An Education
by taperjeangurl
Summary: When a wealthy, gorgeous, and bruised girl lands on TM's doorstep, Jax expects her to be gone in a week because a girl like her wouldn't stay in a town like his for long...or would she? Jax/OC.
1. The Master Appears

**AN EDUCATION**

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><p>Chapter One<p>

"When the student is ready, the master appears."

~Buddhist Proverb

Mile after mile flew by on the highway. Lily Campbell gripped the steering wheel, her chest still heaving even though she'd already been driving for almost six hours. She glanced in the rear view mirror, thanking God she'd wore waterproof mascara that night but then she caught a glimpse of the light bruise forming underneath her left eye. She reached up gingerly and winced as her fingers brushed the sensitive skin; the swelling was already bad enough but the purple tinge forming at the top of her cheek wasn't doing anything but propelling her forward.

She had to keep moving because she was never going back. The only stops she'd made had been at an ATM right out of LA to empty her checking and savings accounts and about three hours earlier at a gas station to pee, grab some food, and get gas. She just had to keep going. She couldn't stop unless absolutely necessary because she knew it was only a matter of time before what she'd left in the rear view mirror started looking for her, if they hadn't already.

Her head fell back to the headrest and she sighed, almost with relief. She would feel relieved when she was as far away from that place as she could possibly get, even if she didn't exactly have any idea where she was heading. The only thought going through her head was that she'd needed to get the hell out of there as she'd dashed around the apartment throwing as much as she could into her suitcases. She hadn't even changed out of her party dress; sure, it would've only taken an extra two minutes but that was two minutes too long. She closed her eyes and could feel the hot, whiskey-laced breath on her ear as he whispered:

"Why can't you just do as you're told? Now be a good girl and go back to the table, apologize for being rude, and then we'll talk about this when we get home."

"Go fuck yourself, Will." She'd replied, not caring who was watching, not caring about the repercussions. At that moment, something had snapped in her. Something that had been a long time in coming. It was a clean break, whatever it was that had snapped, and she'd instantly smiled at the satisfaction of finally saying to his face what she'd always secretly said to him in her head.

She'd seen it in his eyes before she'd felt it as his hand struck her violently across the face. Her heel had gotten caught in between the grooves of the ceramic tile beneath her and she'd tumbled to the ground like a rag doll. She'd barely heard his protests, pushed away his trembling hands to help her up, and then ran to the waiting car the valet had just brought up. She'd never looked back.

The life she'd left behind wasn't anything but fake, meaningless, and completely devoid of anything good. It was nothing. It meant nothing. All she wanted now was to find some place where she could do what she wanted, go where she wanted, and not be so god-damn terrified to say so. No more would she be a doormat for her father and her fiancé to stomp on. She was finally free.

Her eyes flashed open at the high-pitched beep that was coming from her dashboard. The check engine light was on. Shit. And now the temperature gauge arrow was rising at an alarming rate. Go figure. Shit. Right about now, she really could use a cell phone. Too bad she'd flung it out the window when the constant buzzing had gotten too much for her. That had been a bad choice. When she remembered, with great relief, that her father had had a GPS system installed in her car, it was the first time she'd probably ever been grateful he was such an overbearing father, stubborn and insistent on getting his way. At least he'd been right about something…what had he said? Oh yeah: "you're horrible with directions, Lily, and you and I both know you can't keep track of a cell phone for more than a damn week at a time and someday, you're going to thank me for making sure you can make it to your hair appointments on time without using the GPS on that over-priced phone of yours."

While tactlessly put and completely inconsiderate of her feelings as usual, the bastard had been right.

She quickly punched in the information for any auto shop that was reasonably close, hoping and praying that her car would make it long enough to get her there. After a few moments, the results popped up and as she scanned them, she wanted to bang her head against the steering wheel. The only one within realistic driving distance, Teller-Morrow Auto Repair, was still five miles away in Charming. She'd never heard of the town before but then again, she didn't normally venture this far north. Well, Teller-Morrow Auto Repair it was; now, she just had to make it there before her car gave out on her…

* * *

><p>Jax barely looked up from under the hood of the truck he was working on when Opie handed him the office phone. He swore under his breath and glanced hesitantly up at Ope, whose lips were set in a grim line. Given that his cell phone had been turned off for the past two days, the caller could only be one person. It was too damn early in the morning to deal with this shit.<p>

He took the phone out of his best friend's hand with a low grunt and barked into the ear piece: "Wendy, stop fucking calling here. I'm at work. I can't talk to you right now even if I wanted to."

"Baby, please, just listen to me," his soon-to-be ex-wife pleaded on the other side of the line. "All I want is to talk to you…you haven't given me any other choice!"

He glanced up and met the frustrated, pissed off eyes of his mother, who was watching with a mirthless smile on her face from the office doorway, her manicured hands tapping impatiently at her hips; he turned his back for a little privacy but quickly realized that wasn't going to work, not with the twenty pairs of eyes staring right at him.

He sighed tiredly into the phone and rubbed his face with his free hand.

"Please, Jax…I'm still your wife. Don't you at least owe me that? To talk to me? I've been trying so hard…"

Wendy sounded so desperate, so pathetic that he almost felt sorry for her. But then he remembered what had happened the last time he'd taken pity on a strung-out stripper who'd been fortunate enough to be laying in his bed when he'd had the most ill-conceived revelation of his life. He'd been lonely, he'd felt sorry for her, and so he'd fucking married her. And had been stupid enough to take her back more times than she deserved. All in the name of loneliness and too little backbone.

He sighed again and winced as the words tumbled out of his mouth. "Fine. One talk. I'll stop by the house later tonight. But that's it, Wendy. Don't expect anything to come out of this."

"I won't, Jax," he could practically see her nodding into the phone, her face beaming with false hope. "I won't. I'm so glad you're finally agreeing to this."

He gritted his teeth. "Don't get used to it."

Then he hit the end button before she had a chance to protest.

"You did the right thing, brother," Opie clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, maybe if you get her off your back, she'll stop bothering the hell out of us while we're trying to get some shit done." Tig hollered from over his shoulder as he got back to work.

"Jesus, never a dull moment around this shit-hole," Bobby muttered under his breath as he swept past Jax towards the tool-box near his feet.

He flung a greasy towel over his shoulder and braced himself for the inevitable. It was only a matter of seconds before…

"Jax."

Ah, there it was.

His mother strode over to him, her hard features set in ice as she glared daggers into his eyes.

"Yeah, mom."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Please tell me you're not planning on doing something stupid with that junkie whore."

Both hands rubbed across his face in frustration before he was able to answer her. "Don't freak out, Mom. It's not going to be like last time."

"It'd better not."

"It won't." He gave her a hard look, his lines set in a firm line and he hoped that was enough to let her know he was serious.

Her features softened almost immediately and a hand reached up to touch his face. "I'm sorry, baby. I know you told me to stay out of it but I don't want to see the same shit that happened last time happen to you again. I can't sit by and watch that again."

He nodded and gave her a sincere smile. "I know, Ma. Just let me handle it, alright? I'll tell her what's what and then send her packin' for good."

She cocked an apprehensive eyebrow at him. "You think it's going to be that easy?"

He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets absentmindedly. "It has to be. I'm done with her."

That made her smile. "Good for you, baby. Now, get back to work."

"Yes, ma'am."

He shot her a cocky lop-sided grin, making her swat him with a towel before turning back to the forgotten truck he'd been working on. Before long, he was completely lost in putting the engine back together. It was amazing how quickly he could set aside all the bullshit that had recently come back into his life the second he was messing around with parts, grease, and oil. It was oddly calming and it made him forget almost as well as the bottle of Jack he had waiting for him in his dorm room. That was just going to have to wait until after his little chat with the wife.

A low whistle thrust him out of his thoughts and he turned his head to see a silver Bentley pull into the parking lot. All tools, all hands seemed to freeze in place as all eyes were on the Bentley. It wasn't every day a car like that pulled into TM and Jax could already see everyone around him drooling at the prospect of not only getting to work on it, but to get the payout that went along with working on a luxury vehicle like that. Any Bentley parts cost a shit-ton of money and were difficult to find in that area, which meant more logged man-time which meant a nice healthy paycheck for the lucky son that got to work on it.

"So whadda think we got inside those pretty tinted windows, huh?" Tig asked, coming up behind him. "Probably a suit with a stick up his ass is my guess. I'd be happy to yank it out for him."

Jax was about to laugh when the door opened as a smooth, toned leg ventured out into the sun. The leg, which also happened to be barefoot, quickly retreated back inside the car and then the door swung open a little more to reveal a golden-haired goddess in a tiny sequined dress seated in the driver's seat.

"Fuck me." Tig dropped the wrench he'd been holding.

"Holy shit." Jax exhaled.

They watched in complete fascination as the legs swung back out, now clad in stiletto heels, and then the goddess was on her feet, sauntering towards them on legs that went on for days. A silky black sequined dress clung tightly to her perfect curves, riding up just far enough to get a glance at the space in between her thighs, and that she was now self-consciously tugging down. Jax didn't even realize he'd groaned in disappointment until he heard it. He swallowed tightly as she flicked her long, slightly messy blonde curls over her shoulder.

Jax started moving in her direction when a firm hand held him back by the shoulder.

"Just what do you think you're doing, bro?" Tig snarled in his ear. "That piece of tits and legs is all mine."

Jax shrugged him off with a grin. "I saw her first."

"Bullshit you did."

Jax was already backpedaling out of the garage, his eyes gleaming with victory. "Whatever, old man."

"Yeah, whatever my ass," Tig tossed a pliers in his direction, which he playfully dodged as he turned on his heels to face the object of their friendly argument.

His breath hitched in his throat when his eyes found her again and he fought the urge to break out into a sprint. She was watching him carefully as they approached each other and he noticed that she had her arms protectively wrapped around her chest. But her eyes didn't hold any nervousness or agitation like he had expected. Instead, he was met with big, curious blue eyes that were assessing him with clear precision. While it was plain to see she wasn't like any other girl that had ever stepped foot in his town, she also clearly wasn't some stupid rich snob either.

With a nervous breath, he slipped a smile on his face and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Can I help you, miss?"

Now that they were face to face, the light purple bruise at the top of her cheek was unmistakable. In a flash, the nervousness was gone and his instincts were kicking into high gear. This gorgeous, somewhat inappropriately dressed, seemingly filthy rich girl that stood in front of him was running from something. And despite every warning bell going off in his brain that whatever this girl was running from was probably bad news, the frustrated, exhausted, and emotionally spent glaze in her eyes told him to do something else.

"Yeah, hi," she smiled and held her hand out, which he gingerly shook. "I'm hoping you can help me with this stupid piece of crap."

He bit his lip to keep from laughing and he gestured to the Bentley—that obviously wasn't a piece of crap—behind them. "What's the problem?"

She blew out a breath and brought a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she spoke. "Well, the check engine light is on and the temperature gauge was getting way too high."

He frowned and glanced again at the car behind them. "When was that?"

"About five miles ago."

He tried to stop himself from wincing—she definitely shouldn't have kept driving it if it was overheating, but then again, he expected she probably hadn't known that. At least she'd known well enough to pull over to the first place she could find and lucky for him…

"Well," he was saying now. "Let me take a look at it and then we can go from there."

"Ok," she nodded gratefully. "Thanks. Can you…um…can you tell me where the bathroom is?"

"Sure, darlin'," he grinned. "Right this way."

He waited for her to grab a suitcase out of her trunk and then led her through the garage, trying not to make eye contact with any of his brothers, who were all making zero effort to hide their shit-eating grins and gaping wide mouths. He turned to point out the door she needed but sprung out to catch her instead as her heel caught on one of the million extension cords running around the garage. His arms snaked around her waist and she was staring up at him with those deep blue eyes and he knew he was holding her a little too closely.

He made sure she was steady on both feet before carefully putting more distance between them. "You alright?"

"Yeah," she nodded breathlessly. "I'm fine. Thanks…I would've been sprawled out all over the floor with my dress over my head if you hadn't caught me…that would've been quite the show, right?"

She gestured with her head towards the twenty pairs of eyes watching them and grinned good-naturedly. He knew she was waiting patiently for him to say something but he needed to get the image of that tiny dress over her head out of _his _head.

He laughed nervously, internally kicking himself in the balls for not being on his game and gestured towards the bathroom door. "No problem, darlin'. Just tryin' to help. There's the bathroom and there's a waiting room around the corner. I'll let you know when I get this figured out for ya."

She smiled again and bit her lip as she headed towards the bathroom. Jax watched her walk away from him and suppressed the groan that croaked up his throat as her hips swayed back and froth, her slim legs teetered on her sky-high, lethal heels that made her almost as tall as him, and that dress that cupped her tight ass with each step. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his face with his hands.

What the hell was wrong with him? He'd been buried in beautiful women since he hit puberty and had never, ever had this much difficulty forming a coherent sentence around a woman, especially one he found attractive. Now he was sputtering like a god-damn teenager. But this woman turned his brain into complete shit. Hell, he hadn't even gotten her name. That was a fucking amateur mistake and he was no amateur.

But it wasn't just the way she looked, it was the way she carried herself…with a confidence that was head and shoulders above any crow-eater or woman in Charming for that matter, save for his mother…and it was the way she'd spoken to him. When he'd first approached her, he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought she would be some stuck-up rich bitch that would start ordering him around first chance she got. But she'd been surprising him from the moment she held out her hand for him to shake…and she was polite and good-natured; there was nothing about her that seemed even remotely fake, despite her appearance. She didn't seem all that nervous and she didn't seem all that perturbed by the half-run-down garage with a long line of Harleys parked out front of the shop. This girl was different and for the first time since he'd figured out how much he loved women, he was nervous.

Shit.

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><p>Lily sighed deeply as she tried to maneuver around the tiny bathroom the blonde Greek god had led her to. Driving through the night had finally started to catch up with her because her head was pounding like a jackhammer. She needed a shower, food, and some serious sleep. But she couldn't do any of that until that dangerously attractive mechanic figured out what the hell was wrong with her car.<p>

He had been very polite and accommodating, and…even a little sweet. She sighed again as she thought about the slightly arrogant swagger, the flashing blue eyes, the lop-sided grin that almost made her knees tremble, and the way he nervously tucked his over-long, blonde hair behind his ear. She bit her lip as she remembered the way his hands had felt around her hips when he'd caught her just minutes before. Just the heat from his hands had made her feel light-headed. And that was definitely not a feeling she had experienced with her fiancé before, and she'd literally just met this guy. She didn't even know his name and here she was, reeling over the feel of his hands and all he'd done was catch her fall.

Pushing that out of her still pounding head, she rifled through her suitcase. She quickly dug out a pair of black yoga pants and a white tank top, and yanked herself free from the dress and heels that had grown very uncomfortable over the last seven hours. She shoved the offending clothes and shoes into the suitcase and slipped into some flip-flops, feeling instantly relieved.

After splashing some water on her face, she glanced up at her reflection and winced at the sight of the bruise on her cheek. That mechanic had definitely noticed it; she'd seen the change in his eyes the second he took a closer look at her face. She quickly grabbed her makeup bag and tried cover it up as best as she could with some powder and concealer but squeezed her eyes shut tightly at the still visible bruise on her face. She could probably pass for some rich heiress going on a joy ride if not for that; but then again, she didn't really care what she could pass for or not pass for anymore. After throwing her makeup bag back into her suitcase, she angrily threw her mess of hair into a ponytail.

And as she sat down, her head dropped into her hands as reality came slamming in. She really was alone now. And she had no idea where she was going or what she was going to do. There hadn't been any time to stop and think…just a completely impulsive act of self-preservation. Thankfully, she probably had enough cash to last her at least a few months before she'd have to figure something else out. She could figure everything out as long as she was anywhere but in LA.

With another heavy sigh, she dragged her suitcase out into the 'waiting room' the hot mechanic had directed her to and ran a frustrated hand through her hair when she realized it was really just a few chairs in a hallway. Although she'd been hoping for something a little more secluded so she'd have a fighting chance at actually getting a little sleep, she set her suitcase down with determination and fell heavily into the closest chair near her. Within seconds, her head was bobbing to her shoulder and she was fast asleep.

It could've been minutes or hours later, she wasn't entirely sure, but all too soon she was jerked awake by someone gently shaking her shoulder. Her eyes drowsily pushed open and she found that mechanic, with his gorgeous blue eyes and way too sexy hair, smiling kindly down on her, holding a hot cup of coffee out to her.

"Hey, sorry to wake you."

She yawned and stretched her arms over her head, adjusting her now sore neck.

"No, don't worry about it. Thanks." She yawned again as she took the cup from him.

He sat down on a chair across from her and tucked a piece of unruly hair behind his ear. "My name is Jax, by the way."

She smiled, her heart pounding in her chest and she leaned forward with her outstretched to him for the second time. He grinned and took her hand.

"I'm Lily. Nice to officially meet you."

That lop-sided grin slid onto his face again and she had to bite her lip.

"You too, Lily." Jax smiled as he leaned back into his chair.

"Did you fix it?" She asked hopefully and cringed at the apologetic expression fixed on his face.

"Well," he ran a hand through his hair as he spoke. "The good news is that I can fix it for you…the bad news is that in order to fix it, I have to order the parts in and that could take about a week or so…two at the most."

She groaned and rubbed her face with her hands. "Shit."

"You got some place to be, darlin'?" He was frowning now and leaning forward a little bit more than before.

"No, not really. I was just…"

He nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly as he frowned again at her. "Well, I can give you the number of a decent hotel around here and I can definitely get you set up with a loaner car…"

"Ok," she nodded, suddenly feeling very self-conscious with his eyes probing her for answers.

"So," he continued hesitantly. "Do you want me to give you the number now or…"

"I…um…" she sputtered nervously. "I don't have a cell phone so I'll need to borrow your phone here. I, uh, I threw it out the window."

His expression went from surprise to suspicious all in the span of a second and she instantly regretted the word vomit that spew from her mouth. Why the hell had she told him that? It was none of his business anyways and he didn't need to know anything personal about her to fix her Cadillac.

He leaned forward again with an unreadable look on his face. "You runnin' from somethin', darlin'?"

She immediately sat up and on the defensive. "I'm not…I'm not running from the cops if that's what you mean."

He shook his head and leaned a little bit closer, glancing down the hallway to make sure they didn't have an audience. "That's not what I meant. I mean the asshole who did that number on your face."

Her hand reflexively shot up to her cheek and she winced at the contact.

"Still sore?" He asked gently.

She nodded carefully. "I…I didn't really get a chance to ice it or anything."

He bit down on his lip and then rubbed his mouth angrily. Then he looked back up at her with softened eyes. "I can help you with that too."

She abruptly shook her head, not wanting any unnecessary attention on her. "Don't worry about it; I'm fine…really."

He chewed on his bottom lip absentmindedly, still watching her with sad eyes. Then he leaned forward again. "All I need is a name and an address and that asshole will never bother you again."

She blinked once and frowned. "You're serious?"

"Like the plague, darlin'."

She blinked again, at his repeated use of the endearment, 'darlin'', towards her or his deadly serious offer of violence and revenge, she wasn't sure. "You'd do that…you don't even know me."

He shrugged as he sat back in his chair. "Don't have to."

"Well," she replied warily. "Thanks for the offer, though."

He nodded again and took a card from his front pocket. "Here's TM's card. I'll get you set up with that hotel and a loaner car so you can get around."

"Ok," she replied quietly. "Well, how much do I owe you for today?"

He grinned and she felt relieved that he'd seemed to relax a little. Jax gestured with his head towards the hallway as he rose to his feet.

"Come on, we'll get it taken care of in the office."

Jax watched with his hands perched on his hips as he watched her drive away in a TM loaner. He sighed and frowned slightly when he couldn't see her anymore.

"That was awfully sweet of you to get a hotel room for her, Jax." Tig sneered from over his shoulder.

Jax cast a wary glance at Tig as Juice and Opie made a lame attempt at muffling their laughter with their fists. Tig sauntered over to Jax with a cocky grin and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Now, bro," Tig started with faux sincerity. "I don't really have a problem with you givin' her the family discount today and even though I think you were a little too…how do I put this…pussy-whipped when you called the hotel for her but please, please, please, bro…please tell me you got her room number so I can pay her a visit later tonight."

Juice and Opie were already laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes as Jax angrily flipped them all off and threw a greasy towel at Tig.

"Fuck you all." He spat. He'd nearly lunged over the counter when Half-Sack told Lily about the family discount after she'd protested the way too low price. He'd wanted to throttle Half-Sack for being such a damn idiot; he hadn't intended on her ever knowing he'd given her a price on labor reserved for family and employees only. She didn't seem like the type of girl that would be happy about charity and all he'd wanted to do was give her a break. For some reason, Sack's announcement had mortified the shit out of him.

"I was just tryin' to be a nice guy," Jax started, taking a long pull from his cigarette. "She's obviously in some kind of trouble."

"I mean, seriously," Juice added. "Who pays for a repair bill with cash? Did you see how many hundred bills were her wallet? My eyes almost fell out of their sockets."

Opie nodded, his jaw set in deep thought. "Showing up in that dress, no cell phone, all those suitcases, all that cash…and I think we all saw that bruise on her cheek…something bad must've gone down for her to just up and leave like that."

"Well," Tig cut in. "The good news is she'll be in town for at least a week and the good news is that in a week, none of this shit will matter."

Opie nodded solemnly. "It's none of our business anyways."

"Unless she decides to stick around for awhile…" Juice thought out loud.

"Nah," Jax shook his head. "She's just passin' through."

"And until she continues on her merry way, I am going to fantasize about all the dirty, horrific, unspeakable things I would do to that body if I ever got the chance." Tig closed his eyes as if he was picturing it right there.

"Like any of you sorry bastards would have a shot at her." Opie grinned.

Juice shrugged. "Jax could probably get her."

"Shut up, man." Jax snapped playfully, letting a cocky grin slip onto his face.

"Yeah, well," Tig shook his head. "The thing about this chick is—and you can tell it by lookin' at those pretty blues eyes of hers—she doesn't strike me as a girl that would be a one-stop fuck. This is the kind of girl that could fucking rip your out if you can't marry her and pump her full of kids."

"Nicely put, Tig." Opie sighed.

Tig just swatted at him in the air. "Anyways, like I was saying, asshole…sure, Jax could get the broad but good luck keeping her, right? A girl like that doesn't stay in a town like this for long."

"You're preachin' to the choir, brother." Jax exhaled. "I don't know about you douche-bags but I'm goin' back to work."

He didn't hang around long enough to hear anything else. He just wanted to lose himself in his work again…besides, he had a 'date' with his soon-to-be ex-wife and it was a date that was bound to involve yelling, crying, and potentially harmful items thrown in his direction. He needed some time to mentally prepare himself for getting Wendy out of his life for once and for all.

He didn't even know how much time had passed before the office phone was held out to him from under the hood. His head dropped as his fists curled angrily at his sides. How many damn times did he have to tell Wendy to stop calling him there? Sure, he'd felt a little bad at first but now it was just pathetic.

"It's not Wendy, brother," Opie said softly with a sly smile. "It's someone named Lily."

He froze. "What?"

"You heard me; she called here and asked for you."

"What?"

Opie laughed and slid the phone into his hand. "Have fun, brother."

Jax shot him a cocky grin as he stepped away from the truck he'd been working on and headed for the hallway for a little privacy, putting the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Jax? Hi, it's Lily." Her voice sung out from the other side of the line.

"Yeah, I know. You alright?"

"I'm fine," she laughed and he felt his chest tighten at the sound. "I'm sorry to bother you again. I just…well, I have a little problem and you're the only person I know here in town so…"

"What can I help you with, darlin'?" He smiled into the phone. He'd probably run down the street naked if she asked him too…especially if it meant any time spent with her.

"Well, say I have an expensive piece of jewelry I need to get rid of. Do you know some place where I could take it and not get low-balled?"

He frowned. He hadn't really known what he was expecting but this definitely hadn't been it. This girl was just full of surprises.

"You mean pawn it?"

"Yeah," she replied coolly. "I know how much it's worth; I just want to make sure I go some place that will deal with me."

"Well," he scratched his chin in thought. "Joe's would probably be your best bet; he's a somewhat decent guy."

"Somewhat decent I can live with."

He smiled again and then frowned. "It's not in the best part of town though. Tell you what, I'll stop by the hotel when my shift is done, take you there, and make sure ol' Joey doesn't take you for a ride."

"You don't have to do that, Jax…I'm sure you have more important things to do."

Wendy's desperate face flashed against his mind for a brief moment. Then the vision was gone. "Nah…I don't mind. Besides, what kind of guy would I be if I sent a girl like you all by herself to the bad part of an already rough town? It's not a big deal, I promise."

She was silent for a moment and he could practically feel her hesitation through the phone. Maybe he'd been too forward and maybe she thought riding around with a rough looking guy she barely knew was a bad idea but it was better than her heading to the south side of Charming by herself. There were only a couple of ways that could end and none of them were good.

"I'm sure I'll be fine…if you could just give me a general idea of where Joe's is…"

"Please," he interjected a little too quickly. "I really don't feel comfortable knowing you're going to that part of town by yourself…it'll be dark soon and…well, just trust me on this one."

She paused again and he wondered if she was just being too stubborn or if he was being too stupid.

"I don't need a chauffeur around town, Jax," she laughed and for the first time since she'd walked into TM's garage, something about her was fake.

"That's not what I meant, darlin'," he tried, thinking that maybe if he laid on the charm, she'd give in. "I'm thinkin' I won't be able to sleep tonight unless I know you got to and from Joe's in one piece. Come on, Lily…you don't want to deprive me of sleep, do you?"

She laughed again and this time, it was real. "Well, if you're sure."

"I'm sure, darlin'," he smiled at his victory. "Listen, I gotta go but I'm done in about a half hour. I'll pick you up then, alright?"

"Sure, Jax. Thanks."

"No problem."

He hit the end button with a big, shit-eating grin on his face. He turned on his heel and sauntered out into the garage with a renewed sense of confidence.

"A booty call already? What?" Tig called from across the garage.

Jax just flipped him off and got back to work, wishing the next thirty minutes would be over already.

* * *

><p>Lily sat on the edge of the bed and played nervously with the engagement ring in her hands. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe it wasn't too late to call Jax and tell him not to come. But the large rock in her hands felt like a dead weight, a burden that needed to be heaved off and purged from her soul. It was the only remaining artifact from what was already feeling like a distant past and it needed to be gone. She didn't want to look at it. She didn't even want to be in the same room with it.<p>

She'd almost flung it out the window along with her cell phone but some common sense had pushed its way back into her brain and she'd stopped herself. The cell phone was one thing but tossing a 5 carat Cartier diamond ring out of a moving vehicle seemed wasteful. There were people, probably in this very town no less, that would kill to make even a third of what that ring was worth in an entire year. Besides, she could easily find a much better use of the money she'd get from purging herself of anything that reminded her of the past.

So the ring needed to go but what about Jax? She wasn't sure why she had even called him in the first place; she probably could've found a decent pawn shop on her own but her fingers were dialing TM's number before she could stop herself. She sighed again…he didn't seem like a bad guy but then again, Will had seemed like a perfect gentleman when they'd first started dating and she knew exactly how that little arrangement had turned out. It wasn't like she was in a town that was even remotely similar to anything she'd ever known…it looked run-down, almost like it was crumbling under the blaze of the hot California sun. The environment and the people in it were completely foreign to her. She knew, for all intents and purposes, she shouldn't trust Jax. But there was something about the look in his eyes when he'd mentioned the bruise on her face and the way he'd spoken with her on the phone that told her if there was anyone in this town she could trust, it would probably be him. She just didn't know why.

But then again, the second he saw what she was planning on pawning, the questions would start. She wasn't sure she could even explain what had brought her to Charming in coherent fragments, let alone to a near-stranger. She didn't have to answer to anyone, anyways. Not anymore, at least.

She frowned when the roar of a motorcycle engine erupted her thoughts and a quick glance out the window almost had her reeling backwards. Jax, wearing a leather cut-off jacket, was throwing his leg over the side of a very menacingly large Harley and was now ambling towards her door with a slight swagger. She didn't know what was more alarming: the Harley or the sight of him walking towards her front door.

She really needed to get a hold of herself. There was business to take care of and she had to be on her toes. Distractions of any kind, even the kind that drove motorcycles, were not going to help her from here on out. She'd taken the first giant leap to taking care of herself when she left LA and now she needed to keep taking those steps, even if they were less complicated ones. Still, she wasn't entirely prepared to deal with the inevitable questions.

With a deep breath, she flung open the door to greet Jax, who perched at the door with his fist raised mid-air to knock.

Well, there was no going back now.

His face broke out into that lop-sided grin she was quickly becoming accustomed to and he pushed the hair that had fallen in his face behind his ear. "Hey…you ready?"

"Yeah." She exhaled with some agitation.

"Alright," he gestured towards his Harley with a thumb. "I hope I don't mind me bringing my bike…"

She swatted a hand out as they walked towards it.

"Ever been on one before?" He asked, tilting his head slyly towards her.

"No," she laughed. "But I'm sure you knew that already."

He shrugged with a smile.

"Just figured I'd ask. Here…put this helmet on; there are some hand grips behind the seat for you to hold on to." He instructed kindly as he swung his body onto the seat and handed her the helmet, pointing out the barely visible rails behind him. Then he was waiting patiently for her to join him as if he knew her hesitation was slowly ceding to her curiosity. He'd clearly done this before with many, many women. Except, she guessed, this was the first time he'd ever taken a girl to pawn her engagement ring; he just didn't know it.

Using his shoulders to steady her, she awkwardly slid into the seat and groped anxiously for the handles behind her when the engine came to life. It was then that she read the back of his leather cut-off…Sons of Anarchy. So...well, she didn't really know what to think; there was too much flying around in her brain for her senses to register anything other than the task at hand. Maybe, if she ever got the chance, she'd ask him about it later.

As they pulled away from the parking lot, with the wind in her hair and the sun setting on her face, she finally started to relax. She wasn't even a little scared, like she'd thought she'd be…it was actually a little exhilarating. She closed her eyes and just breathed in the fact that she was here and able to do this without any reservation or fear of consequence. It wasn't until the bike jostled on the bumpy road and her leg rattled against his that she realized she was basically straddling him, albeit backwards. The thought made her bite down on her lip and the internal struggle to not scoot closer to him surprised her. It would be so easy to lean forward and wrap her arms around his waist. Too easy.

By the time the bike stopped in front of Joe's, it had already gotten dark. Jax swung his leg around and held a hand out to help ease her off the bike. He glanced around and watched, slightly on edge, as a few motorcycles passed them on the street. She bit her lip as she took in the surroundings in front of her…Jax definitely hadn't been exaggerating. This really was a rough part of town. Now, she was very, very grateful she'd let him talk her into bringing her here. One look at the graffiti-laden, paint-scraped building and the dirty, blood-stained street it sat on and she wouldn't have even stepped out of the car. She'd have immediately locked the doors and gotten the hell out of there.

After a pause and another glance down the street to the cyclists' retreating forms, Jax gestured for her to go inside.

"Well, if it isn't Jax Teller!" a loud voice bellowed from across the store.

Her eyes instantly flew to his as the pieces edged into place. Jax Teller as in Teller-Morrow? She supposed she shouldn't have been all that surprised. But then again, he seemed to be just full of surprises.

Jax winked playfully at her as he hollered: "What's up, Joey!"

"Haven't seen you in a while…what brings you in? And with such a lovely lady too…" The heavy-set owner of the store smiled as he stepped out from behind the counter as he extended a hand towards her.

"I'm Joe Martin," he grinned as he shook her hand. "Very, very nice to meet you."

"Hi, I'm Lily Campbell." She smiled, feeling instantly more relaxed when Jax stepped over to her side.

"Listen, Joey," Jax started coolly. "Lily's got some business for you but you've got to promise me you're not gonna try to rip her off."

Joe held a hand up. "Scout's honor. Besides, I could never defraud such a beautiful woman. Now, whadda ya got for me, sweetheart?"

She took a deep breath and reached into her pocket, placing the offensively large engagement ring down on the counter in front of them. Joe's mouth immediately dropped but she tried desperately not to make eye contact with Jax, whose eyebrows were practically pushed into his hairline.

"Five carats, Cartier, platinum design," she started shakily. "I've got the certificate to prove it."

She set the paperwork down next to the ring and tapped the glass nervously, still not allowing herself to look at Jax, who stood silent beside her. Joe hastily grabbed the papers and scanned them, his fingers trembling so much the pages shook.

"The man who purchased this for me paid around $50,000 for it," she went on, a renewed sense of confidence enveloping her as she spoke. "Now, I know you can't give me that for it but I'd like to do business with you if you can give me a fair price."

Joe's eyes narrowed. "Define 'fair price'."

She shrugged. "Make me an offer."

Joe rubbed his face with his hands and she could see the dilemma etched all over his face. "$10k is the best I can do."

She heard Jax snort loudly next to her as he set his hands on the glass and leaned forward. "Come on, man; that's a little insulting, don't you think? You can do better than that."

Joe visibly shuddered before giving his next offer. "15"

She frowned and clipped the ring back into her hands to hold up to his face. "This is a Cartier ring. How many of these have come through this door? Think about the profit you could make and the business you could bring in if everyone found out you carried this kind of stock. Besides, you and I both know this is probably a once and a lifetime opportunity for you. I think you should take it. I want $35,000."

Joe winced and she heard Jax blow out a breath.

"I can't do that, sweetheart," he spat with a little too much frustration, then glanced apologetically at Jax, who was giving him a hard, warning glare.

"Make her another offer, Joe." Jax pushed out roughly, his head tilted to the side as he stared back at Joe, daring him.

"20." He swallowed nervously.

She just shook her head. "30."

Joe looked from Lily to Jax to Lily again and wiped his brow. "How about 22?"

"How about 29?" She countered icily and thankfully suppressed a grin when she saw Jax's eyebrows raise at the move.

"225…that's the best I can do." Joe stuttered anxiously.

"Give me 28 or I'll walk out of here and take this ring to the pawn shop down the street. I'd bet they'd give me my price when I tell them you were too chicken-shit to do it."

Joe shifted nervously from one foot to the other and he wiped the sweat from his brow again. His eyes never left the ring on the glass in front of him and he chewed on his bottom lip in frustrated, agonized thought.

"Come on, Joe," Jax offered with false sincerity. "Are you gonna listen to this lovely lady or are you gonna be a pussy?"

"Fine, fine, fine. 28. I'll start the paperwork…Jesus Christ!"

As Joe retreated into his office with his head in his hands, Jax laughed and nudged her with his elbow.

"Nice work," he whispered to her, his eyes shining.

"Thanks." She whispered back.

They didn't say anything else to each other as she signed the paperwork and handed over the ring with a deep sigh of relief. It was done now. It finally felt like it could actually be over.

They still didn't say anything as they climbed back onto his bike and sped back to her apartment. Although it was dark outside and she could barely see anything in front of her, it felt like she was looking at things from new, open eyes. Maybe she did stand a chance at doing this. Maybe she would really be just fine. The wind blew around her face and she felt like she could finally breathe.

When Jax parked his bike in front of her hotel room, they were still silent as he walked her back up to her door. She glanced at him over her shoulder and swallowed nervously when she saw the hunched shoulders, hands shoved in their pockets, and eyes fixed on the ground in front of him. She braced herself for the inevitable.

"Well, darlin'," he finally spoke, his voice hoarse but still gentle. "This is your stop."

"Yeah," she exhaled shakily. "Thanks for helping me out back there."

He shrugged and pushed his hands deeper into his pockets. "Not a problem. Well…I should get goin'. Let me know if you need anything else, alright?"

"I will," she nodded.

He smiled sadly. "Have a good night, Lily."

"You too, Jax."

She watched him walk back down towards his bike, this time with less swagger than she'd seen before, hands still in his pockets, head still down. She swallowed and her feet were carrying her towards him before her brain even registered what was happening.

"Jax?" She called after her.

He turned abruptly, his eyes wide with surprise. "Yeah?"

She was standing in front of him again and wanted to hug him. This mechanic, who knew next to nothing about her and had only met her that day, had been more helpful, more supportive, more understanding, and less critical in the span of ten hours than any of the men in her life had ever been. And he'd done so without faltering once.

"Thank you," she smiled softly. "For everything…you didn't have to do any of the things you did and I honestly don't know what I would've done without you today."

"It was nothing, darlin'. Consider it my good deed for the day." He smirked playfully at her.

"I know but…I also need to thank you for not asking me any questions before. You have no idea how much I appreciate that."

He smiled again but this time, it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Don't mention it, darlin'."

She nodded and watched him turn back towards his bike, throw his leg over the side, and speed off into the darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN-**Alright...that's just the start. I know it was a little long but I had a lot of background info to get in there so it'll be easier to move forward in the next chapters.

If you liked it and want to see more, please let me know. If you didn't, please let me know. Your feedback means so much and I love reading your comments. I hope you liked it...the next update will hopefully be popping up over the weekend. R/R!


	2. A Taste of Charming

**A/N-Sorry for the insanely long wait...**

* * *

><p>AN EDUCATION<p>

Chapter Two

Jax gingerly opened front door of his house and tossed his keys haphazardly on the counter. Blowing out a deep breath, he braced himself for the inevitable, something he would've been dreading the whole day if not for a few very welcome distractions. But this needed to be done, once and for all; it was time for Wendy Teller to go back to being Wendy Case, climb back on her stripper pole, and get the hell out of his life.

"Jax?"

Ah, there it was. The voice that could cause him equal amounts of pain and annoyance all at the same time.

"Yeah," he called out, ready to get this over with already.

It wasn't long before the object of his dread came sauntering down the hallway. He noticed immediately that she hadn't spared any effort to making herself alluring to him: tight jeans, cleavage spilling out of her top, hair curled in tight ringlets, and her brown eyes lined with kohl. It was what he'd thought he liked and she knew it. He knew she wanted him to notice her, to notice her effort and he did notice—how could he not—but it was not having the desired effect. All she was doing was making this more difficult on herself and even he, as finished with her as he was, wasn't asshole enough to lead her on.

"I'm so glad you're here," she purred as she stood in front of him, one hand perched on her jutted out hip.

The whole thing just reeked of desperation.

"Wendy," he began curtly. "I'm gonna make this short, alright? I'm filing for divorce tomorrow and I would really appreciate it if you didn't fight me on this. You and I are done. You know that. You've known since before you left for rehab—the second time—and you know it now."

Her lip quivered ever so slightly and she shut her eyes furiously. "You didn't even give me a chance to-"

"To what, Wendy?" He cut in abruptly. "To tell me it's going to be different this time? I already know how this plays out: you sweet talk me into cutting you some more slack, we fuck, we fight, we fuck some more, you start using again when things start to go south, we fight, you throw things, I duck, you use some more, we fight, I threaten to file for divorce until you go to rehab. Did I miss anything or do you think that just about covers this pile of shit we called a marriage?"

It was harsh. But she needed harsh. She didn't really respond to anything else anymore.

Tears were forming in her eyes now and he swallowed any guilt the sight brought up. She'd guilted him into compliance before. She'd used her habit and her shitty circumstances to guilt him into feeling sorry for her, into giving her a second and third chance. She'd even played on the fact that he felt guilty for marrying her in the first place. Hell, he would be the first one to admit that he'd been using her from the start. He'd wanted someone to permanently warm his bed that wasn't just a crow-eater. In his one moment of insane clarity, he'd bargained companionship for a strung-out stripper. He really had no one to blame for his current predicament but himself.

"That's not fair, Jax," she sputtered helplessly, her hands twisting in her hair. "I love you—you love me, right? I know you do. It doesn't have to be this way. We can fix it. We can be like we used to be...I know it, Jax. I know you still love me."

She was looking up at him now with those big doe eyes that had first pulled at the compassionate side to himself he'd never known he had.

"I'm sorry, Wendy. I don't know what else there's left to say."

"What are you talkin' about? You love me...I know you still do."

"No," he answered quietly as he delivered the blow. "I don't. I honestly don't think I ever fucking did."

Now the tears really began to fall and she was moving towards him now, her hands reaching out, probing with helpless abandon. He gently pushed her hands away and took a few steps away from her to make sure the message was clear.

"It's not over," she cried, "It's not...we can fix this, Jax, I know it..."

He shook his head and reached for his keys again. "No, we can't. I'll have the papers sent over to you as soon as I get them. You can stay here until we get all the legal shit figured out."

She was still hysterical with long, black streaks running down her face as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>As Lily pulled into the Charming School District's parking lot, she was increasingly grateful the town wasn't all that difficult to navigate. After tossing and turning on the hotel's way too stiff mattress, she'd gotten up early with the ever-growing list of items to take care of that gnawed at her brain. So she'd gotten herself a cell phone—and a new phone number— and a few odds and ends like razors and toothpaste with her slowly depleting funds. She'd tried to ignore the unwanted attention she had gotten at the drugstore—it was clear Charming's residents had eagle eyes for outsiders. She knew she probably stuck out like a sore thumb but that didn't mean it wasn't tough to swallow some of the rude stares that had come her way.<p>

Still, anywhere was better than where she'd been. She was away from LA, away from Will, away from everything and everyone else that had done nothing but made her miserable. And now she was free and clear. Charming, for that reason alone, was as good a place as any. Besides, being forced to stay in one place while waiting for whatever part Jax needed to fix her Bentley was probably a blessing in disguise. This little 'vacation', if that was the best way she could describe it, would give her time to make some plans. She had about a week or two to figure out where she was going and what she would do once she got there.

It felt like she could go anywhere and do anything, be anything she wanted. She had a degree. Sure, it was in art history and management but it was a degree nonetheless. That had to count for something somewhere. She knew she could do _something_; she just hadn't figured out what yet.

With that in mind, she got out of her rental and headed towards the school district's main office. She had a little more business to take care of and then she could start making some decisions. First things first, right?

The secretary at the front desk greeted her cheerfully, "Hello. Can I help you with something, miss?"

"Yeah," she replied a little nervously as she approached the desk. "I need to talk to someone about making a donation to the district."

The secretary's eyebrows shot up...she was clearly not used to _this_. "Oh, I see. Alright, well, I can take your check here—there's just a form you'll have to fill out to complete the process."

"Sure," Lily laughed shakily, not really sure why she was so nervous. This really wasn't a big deal and she wasn't going to let it become one.

She gingerly set the cashier's check she'd gotten from Joe's the night before and waited, somewhat impatiently, for the paperwork she needed. The woman's eyes widened like saucers when she glanced fleetingly at the amount written on the check.

"Oh my...that's quite a generous gift!"

"Yeah, I...I, um..."

"You don't owe me an explanation, dear," the secretary cut in quickly, sensing her discomfort. "The district is grateful for the donation...you know, now that I think of it you have some great timing there, young lady."

The woman tapped a poster hanging to their right with a forefinger and nodded to herself in thought.

"A Taste of Charming?" Lily asked. "I don't see the connection..."

"Well, you wouldn't, would you?" The woman responded warmly. "Your first time in our happy little town...don't know the ins and outs yet. A Taste of Charming is the town's yearly fundraiser...lots of booths selling things, lots of food, lots of fun. We always take in a lot of donations and we always announce our donators during the event to show our gratitude."

Lily's eyes widened. "Oh no...that's not necessary. Please, don't...I mean, you really don't need to announce my name."

The woman frowned slightly and cleared her throat. "Well, we don't have to say your name, dear. We can just announce the amount you donated if that's what you'd prefer."

She nodded furiously. "Yes, that's definitely what I would prefer."

The woman shrugged. "Alright, if that's what you want. You really should think about attending though. It's always a great way to spend a summer day."

Lily just nodded, still not sure what to think about all this. She'd only come there to get rid of the money from her engagement ring. That was it. She didn't want or need anything else. Still, when the woman stepped away to grab the donation form she still needed to fill out, she ventured a few steps closer to the poster for a better look. Hmmm...a local band was playing, there was going to be fireworks, face-painting—oh, yay!-a bunch of booths selling food and booze and lots and lots family-themed contests and something called Fun Town that probably wasn't very much fun. Not really her thing but then, as she skimmed through the way too long list of booths, her eyes came across one that was sponsored by Samcro—Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original, as it said underneath the acronym.

Now that was interesting.

"Looks like fun, right?" The secretary was saying now with a wide smile as she pushed the donation forms towards her.

"Yeah..." she replied absentmindedly, remembering the leather cut she'd seen on Jax the night before. "Samcro has a booth..."

The woman nodded. "Oh yes, it's really run by Gemma Teller but Samcro gets top billing."

Gemma Teller...Jax's mother she could only presume. She knew she should probably let it go and get out of there but she couldn't help herself.

"What...so is Samcro like some Harley fanboy club or something?"

The woman behind the desk looked around cautiously before turning back to her with a shake of her head. "No...they're a gang."

She blinked. "A gang?"

"Yes," the woman nodded with an air of secrecy. "A gang—they've all been to jail too. There's always something going on with them, always getting into trouble. The police are always looking for a reason to bring them in but they can rarely find something that sticks, at least lately it seems."

It took her a moment to wrap her head around everything she'd just heard. "And these guys, sorry, this gang—they have a booth at a town fundraiser?"

The woman just shrugged. "Well, for all the problems they cause, they definitely take care of their fair share of bad guys too...you know, the ones the police can't quite pin down. Samcro usually swoops in and gets rid of it before it becomes a major problem for the town. You know, Samcro is really the reason drugs aren't a true issue in Charming...now, you head over to Lodi or Stockton and it's another story but that's because the clubs there don't take care of their towns the way Samcro does."

Jesus, this woman almost had stars in her eyes as she spoke. What the hell was going on in this town?

"There are other clubs like Samcro?" To say this was a lot to take in was an understatement.

The woman nodded again. "Sometimes they all get along and sometimes they don't."

"I see."

She didn't really know what else to say so she quickly slid the paperwork over to her and started filling out the necessary information. When she was finished, she slid them back across the desk and smiled tightly to the woman sitting in front of her and staring at her.

"Well, that should be all you need, right? And please...don't announce my name today...I appreciate the gratitude but you don't need to take it that far."

The woman smiled warmly and nodded to her as she took the papers from her. "Sure thing. Just the amount will announced, promise. Thank you again for such a generous gift. Will you be coming to the fundraiser later today?"

It took her a moment to answer and when she finally did, it was an inexplicable yes. She needed something to do, she reasoned with herself as she got back into the car. There wasn't anything wrong with exploring the town she was going to be living in for the next one to two weeks. But, deep down, she knew that was just an excuse.

The second she got back to her hotel room, she flipped open her iPad to do some research, saying a silent prayer of thanks the hotel had wifi.

About two hours later, she wasn't sure what to feel. The woman had been completely right, not that she'd doubted her. They'd all been to jail for numerous reasons and for various extended stays. Jax, or Jackson as his court records read, was the club's VP and had been to jail for smuggling and gun running on separate occasions. The club, if their Wikipedia page was correct, had a long standing history of running guns and seemed to use Teller-Morrow Auto Repair as a 'legit' cover. The Morrow part had to come from the club's President, Clay Morrow and if she was reading correctly, he was also Jax's step-dad as Jax's dad had died in a motorcycle accident in 1994. Wow. Talk about a family history.

Everything she came across depicted Samcro as violent and prone to trouble. Definitely not a Harley fanboy club. But they also didn't seem to fit the image of 'criminal' that floated around in her mind. And the woman at the school district today hadn't seemed afraid of the club; in fact, she'd almost seemed a little proud of them, even if they were criminals.

Still, good works or not, they were still a gang. She didn't need to dig any deeper to have a pretty good idea what they were capable of. But she had to admit…this revelation wasn't entirely shocking.

There had been something about Jax she couldn't quite put her finger on. It wasn't just his cocky swagger or the slightly devilish glint in his eye—that wasn't enough to read 'criminal' or 'outlaw', right? And wouldn't she be stereotyping just a little bit if that was the only fallback information she had? The motorcycle didn't necessarily mean anything but…the more she thought about it, the more she kept going back to their encounter with Joe the night before. It didn't matter that Joe had greeted them cheerfully because once the transaction got going, Joe seemed legitimately afraid of Jax. The nervous shuffling back and forth, the sweat dripping down his forehead, the eyes that could barely look back at Jax's for more than a second without scurrying back down...she realized now what she'd been too preoccupied to notice. Joe hadn't been afraid of losing that Cartier engagement ring; he'd been afraid of what Jax would do to him if their 'deal' went south. Maybe, she reasoned, he'd even agreed to such a high amount just to get them out of his store. It certainly wasn't beyond the realm of possibility. And then there was the way Jax had stiffened when those motorcycles had passed them on the street. It was almost like those old Westerns she used to watch with her father—when she'd been younger and he'd had time for her—when the cowboys passed each other, hands twitching at the guns in their hips, hair standing up on the back of their necks, just waiting for the other to make a wrong move.

Of course, she was romanticizing the whole thing. Samcro was not made up of cowboys; it was, instead, compiled of rough, violent, unpredictable criminals who traded horses for motorcycles.

But the word "criminal" didn't sit quite right with her when describing Jax. She could buy the word "gang", even "gang member" and everything that came with it. For the most part, that made sense. The threat of violence and danger, the cocky swagger, the tough exterior—that seemed to fit in with her perception of what a gang was and how its members were supposed to be. But criminal? That concept was difficult to wrap her head around.

She knew plenty of criminals...people who lied, cheated, and stole from their investors, clients, and even their own family members. Her father was one of those people. And by extension then, so was her former fiance, Will. They were morally bankrupt and she knew for a fact the majority of the 'employees' on her father's payroll were being paid handsomely in exchange for their silence. They were the kind of people that made your skin crawl, that made you feel dirty just for being in the same room with them. That, to her, screamed "criminal".

It wasn't as if smuggling and gun running deserved a free pass. It was illegal and Jax had, rightfully, done the time for getting caught. It seemed like only the ones that get caught are branded criminals. She supposed that was the key to her current moral dilemma—Jax had gotten caught and her father had not. How much does class and social background come into play anyways? Were both criminals? What did that even mean? Why smack a label on something that was difficult to define?

And what difference did backgrounds make anyways? While it was true that they obviously had very different upbringings, it wasn't like hers had done her much good anyways and at least he didn't seem to be running from his life, if not the law.

Still, she knew that all this information—and the fact that she was mentally debated why labeling Jax a criminal bothered her so much—should be scaring her. She should be nervous, worried that she could get caught in the middle of something at the wrong place and time. She should be confirming absolutely to herself that what she needed to do now was keep her distance from Jax and all things even remotely related to Samcro.

What was really eating away at her resolve was the way he had treated her. There was never an air of judgment when she'd been with him the day before. He had stood next to her at that counter in Joe's and, intimidation factor aside, he'd been there to make sure she was alright. He really had nothing to gain and he knew next to nothing about her. But he hadn't let her go alone—that meant something to her. She'd felt alone the majority of her life; there was always some excuse why her father didn't have the time, there was always some excuse why Will was coming home late; there was always the lingering feeling like maybe if she wasn't there, her mom still would be. She barely knew him but with Jax, she didn't feel alone.

Criminal, gang member, whatever other surprises were lurking around the corner here in Charming—all things that her head was screaming for her to recognize, to absorb. But her gut felt otherwise and it was whispering that she could trust Jax. She need more information and more observations before she could entirely make up her mind anyways.

And it was that thought that carried to the high school parking lot a few hours later. It might have been a bad idea...but she still needed something to do, right? Besides, she was curious about the fundraiser and what sort of booth a 'club' like Samcro could possibly put together. But deep down, she knew that wasn't really why she was currently about twenty feet away from their booth.

The whole parking lot was surprisingly crowded from end to end with balloons, booths, and people. At first, it was difficult to figure out where exactly she needed to go but then the Samcro logo beamed out at her. She had to bite back a smile; Samcro's banner was bigger, taller, wider, and more colorful than all the rest. Overcompensating for something maybe? As she inched closer, the woman in charge came into clearer view.

It couldn't be anyone other than Gemma Teller. She vaguely remembered catching a glimpse of her in the office at Teller-Morrow but this was the first time she was seeing the woman straight on. She was practically towering over the other women working the booth with her, streaked curls pulled loosely at her neck, tight jeans and a loose-fitting white shirt draped over her figure. She looked really good for a woman old enough to be Jax's mother. As she walked closer, she got a better view of expertly manicured nails that were dispensing burgers and hot dogs left and right.

With a deep breath, she approached the booth and attempted a shaky smile.

"Hi there," Gemma greeted her with a smile. "What can I get for you? We've got burgers, hot dogs, brats, soda, water...wait a minute, you're the owner of the Bentley, right?"

She nodded quickly, maybe a little too quickly and extended her hand. "Yeah, that's me. I'm Lily Campbell."

"Gemma Teller—I'm Jax's mom." She replied with an edge of hesitation as she reached out to take Lily's offered hand. "Nice to finally meet you. You're all the boys can talk about."

She frowned, not sure what made her more uncomfortable...the fact that the 'boys' were talking about her or why Gemma thought to bring that up. She was getting a sinking feeling that she was about to be interrogated as the glimmer of suspicion in Gemma's eyes began to fan out.

"Oh great," she sighed, trying to sound strong and unaffected. "Well, boys will be boys I guess."

"So what brings you to Charming?" There was going to be no screwing around then, it seemed. With a slightly evil glint, Gemma was staring down hard—as if to dare her to look away, to dodge the question, and then by doing so, fail whatever test she was taking.

Honesty was always the best policy right?

"I guess you know the technical reason, right?" She started with a nervous laugh. "But I suppose if you're wondering why I was in the area in the first place...then, I guess I'm not really comfortable answering that question if that's alright with you."

She blew out a breath as Gemma surveyed her with hard eyes.

"Well," Gemma began slowly after a beat, "I appreicate your honesty. It's not really my business, right?"

She laughed and gestured for Lily to come a little bit closer. Lily knew it would most likely be perceived as rude if she agreed so she just smiled and inched a little bit closer.

"So," Gemma continued with another easy stare. "How's our little town treatin' ya?"

She knew she wasn't completely off the hook yet, if she would ever be. There was still that underlying glint in Gemma's eyes that challenged her, that practically begged her to take a wrong step and say something even mildly offending about her town. It was almost as if she was expecting it from her. She figured that was probably would Gemma would think...she was the outsider after all and it was probably more than painfully obvious that she was very different from most people that came into town. So why wouldn't Gemma automatically be suspicious of her, especially given her affiliation with Samcro? The longer she stood in front of this woman, the more she realized that Gemma was clearly a force to be reckoned with—there would be no bullshitting her—and she definitely wasn't the type of person to have on your bad side. This woman just oozed power and strength. She was not someone you wanted to piss off.

"Everyone has been very helpful, very friendly," she ventured finally, testing the air and hoping that didn't sound fake. It was the truth and she wanted to make sure Gemma knew it.

Gemma just nodded and a slow, almost hesitant smile spread across her features as if she wasn't sure she wanted to let her see a genuine smile yet. "Well, that's great to hear. I'm not surprised though—Charming steps up when it needs to."

As she spoke, she grabbed a plate, took a hot dog from a nearby tray and handed the plate to her. "Here you go, on the house—think of it as a welcoming gift."

Lily smiled, grateful for the change in conversation and took the plate from her. "Thanks—you didn't have to do that."

Gemma just swatted out in the air. "Nah...no big deal."

Out of the corner of her eye, a group of leather cuts came out from around a corner of the school, with a long-haired blonde leading front and center. She swallowed nervously at the sight of him, even if it was just a brief one. Was she nervous because of what she knew about him now? No, she didn't think that was it. The only one associated with Samcro that really intimidated her was Gemma. He was laughing at something a much taller man with a scruffy beard was saying and her stomach knotted up in her gut. What was she doing here? Why had she come in the first place? Suddenly, she was having severe second thoughts at her choice in entertainment for the day.

"So," Gemma's curious voice interrupted her thoughts. "My son tells me it'll take a little while for that part to come in for your Bentley."

She immediately knew she'd been caught staring and mentally kicked herself. "Yeah, it's not the end of the world though."

"You don't mind being stuck here for a week—maybe two?" Gemma asked suddenly, the suspicion slowly creeping back into her eyes.

She just shrugged. "Charming is as good a place as any."

Gemma's eyebrows rose but chose not to take it any further. "So, my son behaving himself?"

She laughed, grateful for the change in subject. "He's been a gentleman, actually."

Now Gemma's eyebrows shifted almost into her hairline and she set a hand on her hip as she spoke. "Really? Now that I find hard to believe...Jackson, I love him, but I'll be the first to admit he can be a real dog when he wants to. And I have to say, I've heard him called all kinds of things...but a gentleman ain't one of them."

Lily smiled good-naturedly and bit her lip. "Well, then I guess you'll be happy to know he's been very polite...very helpful."

"Good to hear he's finally starting to act like an adult. It's about time...oh Jesus..." Gemma trailed off as she put a frustrated hand on her hip in a huff, staring straight at Jax.

Lily turned to see what was going on and watched quietly as a short woman with dark, tangled curls in tight jeans approached Jax. His whole body seemed to tense at the sight of her and he immediately started shaking his head, crossing his arms out in front of him in clear frustration. The woman didn't seem to be getting the hint and reached out quickly to touch his arm but he jerked away before she could make contact.

"Stupid bitch," Gemma muttered under her breath as she watched the exchange with a look on her face that read both annoyance and disbelief.

"I take it you don't like her very much," Lily ventured quietly, not sure if she would acknowledge what she'd heard but they'd both seen Jax's reaction to her. It was clear he didn't like her much either.

Gemma smiled ruefully and put a hand on her hip as she spoke, her eagle eyes still trained on the pair out in front of them. "Don't like doesn't even begin to cover it, sweetheart."

Lily returned the smile, grateful that the Gemma's attention was elsewhere. They watched in silence as Jax and the woman argued for a few short moments until Jax finally brushed her off and stalked away. Lily didn't miss the sigh of relief coming from Gemma's direction.

"Thank God," Gemma breathed out but then immediately groaned as the woman saw them staring at her and started moving towards them. "Holy hell, what does the idiot think she's doing now?"

The woman snaked over to them and quickly stood shoulder to shoulder with Lily, as if to challenge her to back away.

"Hi Gemma." The woman started sheepishly.

Gemma nodded curtly, her lips curving over to one side. "Hello Wendy."

They stood there like that for a moment in complete silence as the two women stared at each other, Lily standing awkwardly to the side. A beat later, Wendy glanced to the side and seemed to suddenly remember that they weren't alone. Lily mustered a friendly smile—she didn't know this woman and had no idea what the story was with her and Jax; it was none of her business anyways.

And against her better judgment, she stuck her hand out for Wendy to shake. "Hi...nice to meet you. I'm Lily."

Wendy nodded slowly and leaned forward with unsmiling eyes as she took Lily's hand. "Wendy...Jax's wife."

It was difficult not to physically react. She felt her heart clench in her chest and she almost immediately let go of Wendy's hand, her own falling listlessly to her side. Thankfully, graciously, Gemma's laugh saved her from any further discomfort or embarrassment.

"You really need to quit introducing yourself like that." Gemma laughed again with a smug smile.

Wendy froze, her hands clenching into tight fists at her waist. "It's still the truth."

"Yeah, well," Gemma dismissed her. "Maybe in name only but that isn't for long."

Lily's eyebrows rose and she struggled to keep a straight face during this exchange. She bit her lip in a weak effort to keep a smile off her face; the last thing she needed at this point was to get on either of these women's bad sides. She wanted to stay out of this but it was pretty hard to pretend she didn't hear Gemma's little dig.

The smile instantly slid off her face as Wendy's snake-like eyes snapped to meet hers. The weight of her glare felt like an icy wind had slapped her in the face.

"Excuse me?" Wendy spat venomously. "I don't see how this is any of your business."

Lily immediately nodded. "You're right."

"So why are you still here?"

She figured she had two options: take the high road and walk away or fight back. After a moment's hesitation, she frowned and set her jaw. She didn't come here to fight anyone, especially someone who looked as half-crazed as Wendy.

"I'm sorry," She said finally with a sigh, her hands held up in defense. "I didn't mean anything by it..."

They stared at each other for a moment—Wendy, with an air of smug entitlement and Lily, with a defiant raise of her eyesbrows. Wendy wasn't nearly as scary or intimidating as she was trying to be. Her Gemma impersonation wasn't fooling anyone.

"Well," Gemma cut in abruptly. "This has been fun...just like old times. See you later, Wendy. You know, for someone who claims to finally be sober now you're sure acting like the same junkie bitch you've always been."

Wendy just shook her head with a mirthless laugh. "Nice to see you again too, Gemma."

With that, she started backpedalling, until she finally turned around and got lost in the crowd.

"Thank God," Gemma muttered under her breath when Wendy was finally out of sight.

"That was really Jax's..."

Gemma quickly shook her head. "Don't say it; I'm just counting down the days until that woman is out of my son's life for good."

Lily nodded solemnly with quiet understanding.

* * *

><p>Jax really needed a cigarette...a shot of Jack wouldn't hurt either. No matter what he did or what he said, he just couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the back of his head. It was a dull ache that wouldn't let go and what he really wanted to do was go home...but then again, he couldn't really do that, could he? Here he was, the one who'd been fucked over again and again, and <em>he<em> was the one sleeping in the clubhouse and not his own bed. That shit just didn't seem fair. He'd just had to be the better man, the bigger man and do the right thing. Fuck the right thing.

He carefully stepped over to a corner of the school where he knew he probably wouldn't be seen and glanced over his shoulder to make sure his mom couldn't see him. When he realized who she was talking to, the cigarette dangling from his lips slipped to the ground below him.

The absolute last thing he expected to see was Lily standing at Samcro's booth. Her long wavy blonde hair hung loosely down her back and she was wearing a simple black tank top and jeans but his breath still caught in his throat and his heart still picked up its pace as he took her in. He'd seen her only the night before but seeing her now made him feeling more at ease, less tightly wound. Still, he had to wonder what the hell she was doing there. And having a conversation with his mother no less. He contemplated just hanging back, even for a moment, to watch and observe the scene. Gemma was not the easiest person to get along with—an understatement, yes—but Lily seemed to be handling her just fine from what he could see. Gemma was even laughing as they spoke. But if he knew his mother, he also knew that her moods could change on a dime and that Lily could very soon be under the hard, suspicious glare of his overprotective, high-strung mother.

He figured he'd better get over there before the shit hit the fan and splattered all over the place.

"Well, if you're just lookin' for the basics, the drugstore is fine but you'll get a better selection at the mall on 7th Street." Gemma was saying to Lily as he approached.

When his mother saw him, her eyes lit up instantly. "Jax! Come on over—I was just chattin' with our new friend, Lily, here."

"Really?" He teased, an eyebrow cocked up in mock suspicion as he sauntered over.

Gemma swatted a hand out. "Girl stuff, you wouldn't be interested, Jackson."

His eyes turned to Lily's and his heart clenched when her mouth curved up into a shy smile. He couldn't stop the sly grin that slid onto his face. Damn, he liked being around her.

"So," Gemma started her hand on her hip. "All you boys goin' to the block party tonight?"

Jax just laughed as Lily frowned in confusion.

"Block party?"

He grinned again and leaned towards her a little. "There's always a carnival after the big fundraiser every year—Fun Town—and the first night always turns into a rockin', kick-ass party the whole damn towns shows up for, hence the name, Block Party."

"Oh." The expression on her face told him she had been getting her fair share of information that day and he'd just given her a little more to chew on.

He waited a beat and with a quick glance in Gemma's direction, who was watching him carefully, he spat out: "You should come."

Her eyes immediately shot up to his and it was a moment before she answered. "I don't know..."

He wasn't usually used to rejection but easily let it go; he'd half-expected her to say that anyways and part of him had no idea why he'd even suggested it in the first place. He didn't know what it was about her but every time he got close to her, he got stupider and stupider. She had a way of making his brain turn inside out with that smile and, fuck, this was only, what, the third real time he'd interacted with her.

"Well...if you change your mind..." He offered and she quickly nodded.

Gemma was still watching them curiously and after an awkward moment, they were saved by an announcement over the loud speaker.

"Ladies and gentleman—Charming School District would like to take this moment to thank all the donations receieved this past year. Please listen and hold your applause as we thank the good citizens of Charming..."

After that, Jax started to tune out the announcement. Same shit, different year. The fundraiser was usually the time of year everyone in town patted themselves on the back for whatever they needed a pick-me-up for that year and if he was being completely honest, Gemma also liked to use it as an opportunity to prove to the town that Samcro wasn't all bad. See? Look! Those biker assholes really can do some good every once and awhile when they feel like it! They can give back too! It made him feel a little uneasy but he went along with it. If anything, it meant something to Gemma, which meant it had to mean something to him by default.

But then, as one donation was listed off-$28,000 to be exact—his eyes flew to Lily, who quickly looked down at the ground. He knew he probably shouldn't have been surprised by the very generous donation...there was only one person he knew who could've donated that exact amount and right now, she was doing everything in her power to avoid eye contact with him.

He didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure what he should say, if anything. But his eyes were trained on Lily, who was staring vacantly, almost desperately at the booth to her left, successfully turning her entire face away from him. She swallowed slowly and then, she was looking back at him, her eyes wide and her face slowly turning a faint shade of pink.

It seemed like she was waiting for the question but he still couldn't force the words out of his mouth. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass her, especially in front of his very impressionable mother. But this was just one more side to the coin that seemed to keep turning over and over again. This girl was nothing like what she seemed.

Just as he was about to change the subject and invite her over to some of the kiddie games, something, anything to keep her with him a little bit longer—she was biting her lip and he knew what was coming.

"Well, I should probably check out some of the other booths...it was nice meeting you, Gemma, and thanks again for the hot dog." Her soft voice filled his ears and froze him in place.

As he watched her retreating figure, he shoved his hands in his pockets, itching again for that fucking cigarette.

"Jackson."

It was more a question than anything, albeit a pretty fucking demanding one, and he winced slightly before turning to face the ever suspicious eyes of his mother.

"Yeah, mom?"

She huffed lightly, a hand perched on a hip and leaned forward. "What in the hell was that all about?"

He shrugged and pretended to eye up one of the hot dogs but she wasn't having it.

"Jackson," she was more forceful this time, pushing his name through clenched teeth. "That back there with your new blonde friend, you know, the one you gave the family discount to...the one you couldn't keep your tongue in your mouth for?"

He shrugged again, choosing to ignore her describtions of Lily. "It's none of our business, mom. Just leave it alone."

Her eyes narrowed and she stepped closer. "Leave it alone? Jesus, do you know me at all?"

Jax sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Yes, he did know her. He knew all too well that she wouldn't leave it alone; he practically baited her into a damn witch hunt by telling her it was none of her business. She made everything her business and she wouldn't stop looking until she got all the information. But, on the other hand, it also wasn't his place to say anything. Lily clearly wasn't comfortable with the entire situation and he didn't want to aggravate it by involving the last person on earth you wanted to confide in. He loved his mother, he really did, but she also had a knack for making a bad situation completely fucked. But as he turned his hesitant eyes back to Gemma's hard, probing ones, he knew he wouldn't be getting off the hook anytime soon about this. She wasn't going to let it go; she'd be like a bloodhound on the trail—and wouldn't stop digging until she had all the information. He didn't know exactly what Lily was running from, even though he had a theory, but he didn't want to cause her anymore stress. Maybe they were both better off if the hound got her mark without much of a hunt.

He sighed deeply before meeting Gemma's eyes again. "This stays between you and me?"

She nodded. "I'm offended you even asked, Jackson."

He just rolled his eyes and leaned forward so he could be discreet. "You remember when she called the shop last night?"

He waited a beat for her to nod before continuing. "Well, she was asking me about pawn shops..."

"And you went to Joe's?" Gemma cut in with a nod, knowing as well as he did that Joe's was the only place in town that wouldn't have completely tried to rob Lily blind, not that the bastard didn't try.

"Yeah," he nodded. "So I went with her so she didn't get fuckin' mugged and...then she pulls out the biggest fuckin' rock I've ever seen in my life, said it was a Cartier engagement ring."

Gemma's eyebrows flew into her forehead. "Let me guess, she got $28,000 for it."

He grinned, remembering how the negotiations had went down. "Joe practically shit his pants when he saw it."

"I'll bet."

"I practically shit my pants when I saw it."

"I'll bet."

He ignored that. "She wasn't shy about getting what she wanted for it either. I only had to step in once and that was when he low-balled her the first time. She didn't need me after that..."

"She must have given it all away this morning." Gemma said absent-mindedly.

He nodded again. "I just can't figure out why she didn't at least keep some of it...I mean, I doubt she has a job or..."

"A plan..." Gemma interjected and then shrugged at his surprise. "I saw the bruises too, sweetheart. Women don't up and leave in the middle of the night because their men said something that hurt their feelings. Gotta hand it to her though..."

"What do you mean?"

"That girl is nothing like what she seems."

He nodded silently, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. "It's still none of our business."

"You're right." She said with a confident nod. "She'll be gone in a week, right?"

He nodded with a small smile. "Right. Listen, I'm gonna go find Ope. I'll be back later, alright?"

"Sure baby."

He needed to walk away from his mother, feeling a little dirty that he'd just shared something so personal with her about someone neither of them really knew. He really, really needed that shot of Jack.

* * *

><p>Lily entered the women's bathroom, needed to escape a little bit and seriously considering whether or not it was time to leave. This whole thing that been a failed experiment and she'd been met with one uncomfortable situation after another...if she wasn't face to face with Jax's intimidating mother or crazy soon-to-be ex-wife, she was fighting the humilating embarrassment that he knew about her 'donation' earlier that day. She didn't even know why that was so embarrassing. But she hadn't wanted anyone to know and she had never planned on telling anyone what she'd done with the money, save for the school officials that had to know. What she really wanted was for this all to be over...getting rid of the money was getting her just one step closer to that goal.<p>

She glanced hesitantly in the mirror and cringed at the sight in front of her. Although the swelling had gone down, the purple bruising was still visible despite her efforts to cover it up. With a heavy sigh, she reached into her purse to find her concealer when the bathroom door swung open. She almost dropped her purse on the floor.

Gemma smiled warmly at her and walked over to the sink next to where she stood. "Hi Lily."

"Hey Gemma..." she trailed off cautiously. Why was she getting the feeling that she had been followed?

Gemma took one look at her face and gestured for the forgotten tube of concealer in her hand. "Mind if I lend a hand? I've been in my fair share of scrapes along the way so I know some tricks..."

"Sure..." She didn't know what else she could say. Gemma definitely wouldn't take no for an answer and, if she was being completely honest with herself, she was too dumbfounded to do anything else but hand over the concealer.

Gemma took the tube from her with a small smile and then got to work. It was a few minutes of dead silence before she spoke again.

"That was a really generous thing you did back there."

She frowned. "What?"

Gemma just smiled and kept tabbing lightly at her face. "Jax told me about the money...and don't be pissed at him...he probably did you a favor anyways...you didn't have to do that though."

Lily swallowed tightly. "I know."

"Why did you, then? Why didn't you keep any of it?"

She had no other options but to tell the truth. "It felt wrong to keep it."

Gemma nodded. "Blood money, huh?"

"Yeah...besides, I wanted it to be used for good and not evil."

That made Gemma bark with laughter and she placed a light hand on the unharmed side of her face. It was almost maternal and she'd be lying if she said it didn't make her a little uncomfortable.

"So are you going to Fun Town tonight?" Gemma asked softly, stepping back to look her straight in the eye.

"I don't know...I don't know if I should..." She trailed off, her own indecision and discomfort quickly getting the better of her.

"You should go." Gemma stated softly.

Lily sighed again and despite her best efforts, met Gemma's patient and expectant eyes, urging her to move past her indecision. This was not the same woman she had met earlier that day.

"Look," Gemma started quietly, "I don't know what brought you to Charming but you're here and I know you haven't known me long enough to know if you can trust me or if I trust you but I know that you're scared and I know that you have no idea what to do. But I can see that you're not the girl I thought you were and I apologize for my prejudice."

Gemma paused for minute and Lily could only stare at her, still not really comprehending what was happening.

"So," Gemma continued. "You need to trust me when I say that you should go to Fun Town tonight."

She waited for Lily to respond and when she didn't, Gemma simply, quietly put the cap back on her concealer and handed it back to her. Then, she started walking back towards the bathroom door. When her hand was just about to pull it open, she paused and turned back to her, calling out:

"You should go, Lily."

Then, she pulled the door open and stepped back out in to the sunlight, leaving Lily alone in the dim, damp bathroom with her thoughts.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**-Sorry again for the long wait between updates...real life just got in the way but I definitely have a lot planned for this story and I can't wait to share it with all of you! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added alerts; it definitely helped keep me motivated to work on this update and keep planning. So...please R/R...let me know what you think!


	3. Fun Town

AN EDUCATION

Chapter Three

The enormous, brightly-lit "Fun Town" sign was reeling Lily in like a beacon, or maybe a siren. She still wasn't completely sure what she was doing there. As she glanced anxiously around at the streams of people headed in the same direction, her body completely stopped. The entrance was still several yards in front of her; all she had to do was just turn around and no one would ever know she hadn't even gone inside. None of these people knew her and none of them knew Gemma had told her to go inside. All she was left with was Gemma's surprisingly soft voice in her head: "you should go". She had no idea why Gemma was urging her, meddling even, but for whatever reason, shortly after their discussion in the bathroom, she'd gone back to her hotel and sat there for hours, trying to decide what to do.

She took a small step forward and then stopped again. What the hell was she doing? A glance down at her attire and she cringed a little. In her indecision, she had gone through several different outfits and had ultimately given up, opting instead to just throw a light black sweater over the jeans and black tank top she'd worn to the fundraiser earlier. Now, she was really wishing she had chosen anything else. Why did it even matter, though? She wasn't even going in, right? Shit...her mind went back to the argument she'd previously waged with herself. What harm could it do to go to a carnival? If she was going to be in Charming for a while, she might as well enjoy herself a little bit. But what would that look like? Sure, Jax had been the one to invite her to Fun Town, but she was still trying to figure out why. Maybe that didn't even matter. Maybe she just needed to live a little bit and let herself do something just because she wanted to. Did she really need a better reason than that now? She had to start training herself not to feel guilty for making her own decisions. She'd spent too much of her life feeling guilty, feeling controlled. And as she took another step closer to the entrance, it felt like she was taking another step closer to finally figuring out how to live her life on her own terms.

Then she was moving towards the entrance and there was no stopping her now. She reached the counter and was just reaching into her pocket for some money when a voice called out to her.

"Hey...I was wondering if you were gonna show up."

She turned on her heel and couldn't stop the wide grin that spread across her lips. Jax was standing a few feet away from her with an equally wide, albeit cocky, grin. He immediately shoved his hands in his pockets and closed the distance between them with an easy swagger. He pulled out a few bills and tossed them playfully down on the counter in front of her.

Lily had to bit her lip to keep from laughing as he winked at the teenage girl working the counter who was currently drooling at the sight of him.

"Um...how many...how many tickets would you like...?" The girl managed to croak out.

"However many that gets me, darlin'." Jax grinned back at her.

Lily just shook her head and rolled her eyes at him as he laughed. She grabbed the tickets from the girl and said a quick thanks to her as she slowly backpedalled away from the counter, Jax right on her tips of her toes.

"So," she tilted her head to the side as she spoke, still backpedalling and Jax still just a few inches away from her face. "Let me guess...you just happened to be walking past the entrance when I just happened to be there..."

He laughed and then that lop-sided grin appeared on his face and she thought her heart was going to leap right out of her chest.

"Nah...my Mom told me to keep an eye out for ya. Said you might change your mind about comin' tonight. I'm glad you did."

She smiled again. "Yeah, I am too. I was getting sick of sitting in that hotel room anyways. You weren't kidding about the whole town showing up for this though."

He glanced around and nodded in agreement. "So...you're here."

"I'm here."

There was a moment of pause as they looked at each other, both smiling, both a little unsure of what to do next. A beat later, Jax motioned with his head to the left and took the lead, the smile never leaving his face. She followed him without any hesitation and stayed close on his heels as he weaved around the throngs of Charming residents. For a moment, she felt his hand graze against hers, as if he was contemplating the idea and then a moment later, the sensation was gone. She tried to fight the disappointment lumping up in her throat and reminded herself that this was not a date. She wasn't even sure she could call him a friend.

A loud whistle from the right sent Jax steering in that direction. He nodded in acknolwedgment as a large group of guys in leather cuts came into view. A wave of nervousness washed over her as they grew closer. The whole picture in front of her was a little unsettling: a group of heavily leathered, rough, muscled guys laughing jovially was enough to set the average person on edge, let alone someone who was just coming to grips with what they were.

"Jackie boy!" A tall man with a thick Irish accent and disturbing facial scars called out. "Though' we lost ya!"

"Nah, just pickin' up the last member of the party." He laughed, casting a playful glance sideways at her. "You guys remember Lily, right?"

The group collectively nodded, a few of them waving with a smile, and others nodding politely while taking a drag from a cigarette.

Jax quickly spouted off introductions; it went something like Tig, Bobby, Opie—she vaguely remembered them from the Teller-Morrow, a few others that didn't look familiar—Chibs, Juice, and Happy, if she got their names correct and two younger guys Jax just passed over completely. A few moments later, a tiny woman with long white-blonde hair joined the rest of the group with three kids. Opie—at least she hoped she'd gotten that right—threw an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

It only took a few moments for the woman to realize there was another woman with the group now and she quickly stepped forward with her hand out-stretched.

"Hi! You must be Lily...I've heard so much about you," the woman greeted her with a friendly smile, casting a sly glance at Jax. "I'm Lyla—Opie's old lady."

Lily closed the distance between them, making a mental note to figure out what that term meant. Lyla's warm welcoming was a relief after the shaky encounters she'd had with Gemma, and then Wendy, and then Gemma again. But Lyla obviously didn't have the attachment the other two women had to Jax, so maybe that was why she wasn't snarling or at the very least, suspicious.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Lyla." She replied softly as she shook her hand.

Lyla's head tilted to the side towards the three kids who were currently circling Opie for more tickets.

"That's Kenny and Ellie, Ope's kids," she pointed towards them. "And that's my son, Piper."

She waved politely to the kids, who cast a quick glance at her—Ellie even smiled—and then went back to pleading with Opie for more money and more tickets.

Lyla laughed good-naturedly and shook her head. "Kids."

She quickly noticed that Jax was slowly inching them closer and closer to the group until they were completely meshed in with the rest of them. Suddenly she felt a hand on her back and his warm breath dangerously close to her ear. She almost shivered at the brief contact.

"Wanna hit up one of these rides?" He murmured.

Despite her better judgment, she turned her head to meet him square in the eye. His sapphire eyes were sparkling with a lethal combination of mischief and sexiness that was going to be impossible to resist. Not that she really needed to think about it.

"Sure." She whispered back to him.

"Ok...which one is your favorite?"

She glanced around, trying to remember the last time she was at a carnival...her eyes immediately landed on the Tilt-A-Whirl and by the time her eyes found Jax's again, she could tell he had read her mind.

"One of my favorites too. Let's go."

They said a quick good-bye to the rest of the group and then headed straight for the ride, walking side by side so closely their shoulders were almost touching.

"So how's everything goin'? Your hotel alright?" He leaned down to say into her ear.

She nodded almost immediately. "Yeah, it's fine."

"Good to hear." He smiled down at her as they got in line.

The group of girls in front of them openly stared at the sight of him and one was even playing nervously with her hair as she gaped blankly at the rough but gorgeous blonde outlaw biker.

"Evenin' ladies," Jax greeted them with a sexy grin before casting a playful wink back her way. The girls sputtered anxiously; none of them able to find any words to reply, just casting shy, flirtatious glances back in his direction.

Jax just chuckled and leaned back on the railing. Lily rested back on the railing directly across from him with a smirk.

"What?"

She just shook her head and bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Seriously, what?"

"You can't tell me you don't enjoy that."

"Enjoy what?"

She tried to discreetly gesture with her head towards the girls in front of them but when one girl caught the move, she shot Lily a dirty look which made Jax bark out a laugh.

Lily swatted him on the arm and shook her head again. "Jerk."

"Uh huh, yeah. Right. Anyways...you were saying?"

"Wow...nevermind."

"Aw, come on. They're just jealous anyways—forget 'em."

She shrugged, not necessarily wanting or needing him to elaborate what exactly those girls would be jealous about. Luckily, the line moved pretty quickly and before long, they were sliding into one of the cars, both keeping a safe cushion of distance between them.

As the ride started, she began leaning to the side, trying to get the car to spin. Jax followed her lead and just as the car started to turn, she slammed into his hip and couldn't stop herself from burying her face into his leathered shoulder as the car spun and spun.

Jax let out a soft yell as the turning picked out speed, throwing an arm over her shoulders to pull her closer. When the spinning finally came to an abrupt halt, she realized that Jax's arm was still over her shoulders and she was still glued to his hip. They blinked at each other for a moment and she realized, with a pang, that she could stay there, just like they were, for the rest of the night. Being so close she could smell the mix of leather and sweat and feel the shape of his hip pressed firmly into hers sparked a wave of dizziness, nervousness, nauseousness, and a desperate need to cling to his closeness all at the same time. It was enough to force her to promptly lift the safety bar and climb out of the car, leaving Jax sitting there momentarily alone.

She started walking briskly down the narrow pathway towards the exit but turned on her heel when she heard Jax scramble to get out of the car, swearing loudly when his foot caught on the track.

"God damn it, fuck-" He spat angrily, bending down to grab his foot and coming face to face with a tiny, horrified little girl whose mouth was shaped in a giant 'O'.

"You said _two_ bad words." The little girl whispered.

Jax grimaced and held up a hand in apology. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean it-here," he dug into his pockets as he spoke, "take these and please stop lookin' at me like that with those big brown eyes of yours, little darlin'."

The little girl's face immediately brightened when she realized just how many tickets he had given her and then smiled shyly back up at him.

"There," he said as he showed her his empty pockets. "You cleaned me out now so I guess we're even, right?"

"You don't have anymore?" The little girl asked suddenly, her eyes wide in surprise that he would really give her all the remaining tickets he had.

Jax nodded and, with a quick glance back in Lily's direction, leaned down to continue speaking to the girl, just loudly enough so she could hear him. She could only watch in disbelief as he laid it on even thicker, shaking her head with amusement. He really did have a way with women...younger women especially it seemed.

"You see that girl over there?" Jax asked her, pointing in Lily's direction.

The little girl nodded. "She's really pretty."

Jax smiled, winking up at Lily and leaned down to whisper something into the girl's ear she couldn't quite make out. Before she knew what was happening, the girl was skipping over to her and tugging lightly on her hand.

"Hey lady," the little girl said breathlessly with a sing-song voice. "Jax told me to tell you not to be mad that he gave away all the tickets and please, please don't go home yet because he wants to go on one more ride with you."

She laughed and nodded. "Ok, thanks for the message."

"You're welcome." The little girl danced away from her, clutching her newly won tickets closely to her chest.

"Wow." She could only say as Jax met her down the steps.

"What?" He asked nonchalantly, a smile playing on his lips.

"Don't what me—you know what."

He laughed loudly at that and motioned with his head for her to follow.

"So what do we do now that all our tickets have been given away?" She asked teasingly.

"I figure I could steal some from an unsuspecting group of teenage girls. Think what'd work?"

"What do you mean steal?"

"Yeah," he nodded with faux solemnity. "You're right. I wouldn't have to steal them, would I?"

She shook her head with a smirk and pushed him in the shoulder, suddenly wondering when her interactions with him had gone from completely innocent to trying to touch him whenever the opportunity arose. Now, more than before, this was actually starting to feel like a date. But that was something she couldn't really allow herself to dwell on because the Samcro group was approaching.

"How was the ride, Lily?" The man with curly black hair and beady black eyes called out to her—she couldn't quite remember his name—and it was difficult not to read inneundo in not just his words but in the suggestive raise of his eyebrows.

"It was great," she called back, not missing a beat or the opportunity to beat a snarky asshole at his own game. "All that spinning around—I can barely feel my legs."

Tig gaped at her for a moment, along with the rest of the group—including Lyla, with a smug grin and Jax, with a cigarette dangling treacherously from his lips in shock.

"In fact," she continued in spite of the silence. "I had so much fun—I think I'd like seconds. Whatta ya say, Jax? You up for it?"

Something flickered across his face for a split second and then his mouth was curving sideways in that lop-sided grin she was quickly becoming accustomed to. The rest of the group started to react as he tossed his arm around her shoulders and shot her a devilish look.

"Sounds like a plan, darlin'." He replied over the catcalls and uproarious laughter coming from the rest of the guys.

Amidst the laughter, Tig approached her with out-stretched arms and wrapped her in a quick embrace before placing a light kiss on her cheek. "Ah...I knew it! A girl after my own heart...love ya already, babe."

"Easy boy...let go of her now, Tig." Jax laughed, pulling her back towards him.

After they collectively decided to try winning some of the prizes, they all settled comfortably in front of a shooting game. She watched for a few moments before quickly realizing that watching someone play a shooting game was really, really boring after a while. She glanced over the group to catch a glimpse of Lyla, whose sleepy expression probably mirrored her own and smiled when Lyla threw a knowing smile her way. Suddenly, Lyla was at her elbow, nudging her.

"Hey, I need to find a bathroom. Wanna come? This is boring as all hell—I think I might pass out if I have to watch another minute of this."

"Sure."

"Hey Ope!" Lyla called out, standing up on her toes. "We're makin' a bathroom run!"

Jax turned his head at the word "we" and winked at Lily with a grin as he watched Lyla pull her away.

"Wow...boys and they're guns, right?" Lyla laughed as they headed towards the wall of Port-a-Poddies.

"Yeah, go figure."

"I tell ya, sometimes, bein' an old lady isn't the most glamorous job but someone has to do it."

Lily took that as an opening and the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. "What does that mean exactly? Being an 'old lady'? Is it a biker thing?"

When Lyla paused for a moment, she quickly retreated. "I don't mean to pry but I've just never heard that term before."

Lyla just swatted out a hand as if to tell her it was nothing. "It's kinda like sayin' I'm Ope's girlfriend but in our circle, it's more...concrete...I guess that'd be the right word. It means that I belong to him and no one else."

"Belong to him?"

Lyla smiled good-naturedly; this reaction obviously wasn't a new one for her. "It's about the commitment—those guys can get just about any chick they want so when one asks you to be his old lady, it means he loves you, wants to be with you, maybe wants to marry you, and wants you to be a one-man kinda woman."

"Are they one-woman kinda guys?" She asked the question even though she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.

Lyla just shrugged. "Some of them are; Ope is—I'd castrate him if he wasn't—but some of them aren't. But what's new, right?"

She nodded, knowing all too well how true that statement was—some men are faithful; some men aren't. No matter background or education, class or otherwise, she'd learned this truth the hard way.

"So, you're from LA, right?" Lyla was asking her now, quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah..."

"But you're here?"

She laughed finally, in spite of thinking about the life she still wasn't sure she'd successfully fled from.

"Charming isn't so bad."

Lyla cocked an eyebrow at her as she opened the door to use the 'bathroom'. When she was finished, she reappeared with a sad smile on her face.

"What?"

Lyla shrugged as they started walking back towards their group. "I don't know...I guess I just realized that you're going to be leaving in a couple weeks, right?"

She frowned. "Yeah."

"I hope you don't mind me saying this but I kinda wish you could stay awhile. I know that's completely selfish of me but I think you're nice. You don't see too many nice people in Charming anymore. We need more people like you around here."

She smiled, not sure what else to do.

"Besides," Lyla went on. "I can't remember the last female to come around here that I actually liked. And...our names are kinda the same!"

Lily laughed, wondering why she hadn't thought that before. She could easily see her and Lyla becoming fast friends. Hell, she'd liked her almost immediately. And besides, having a female ally, for however long she was in Charming, didn't seem like a bad idea at all. She hadn't had a lot of female friends in LA anyways, at least not ones that were genuine or ones that could actually be trusted.

"You're sure you won't think about it, though? About staying a while in Charming..."

Her gaze shot up to Lyla's. "I haven't really thought about that...I guess I don't really have a plan either."

Lyla nodded solemnly. "Jax likes you. That's pretty obvious. Sure, you won't reconsider?"

"Well," she practically tossed the suggestion aside as she laughed. "I'm not sure staying in a town where I hardly know anyone for a guy I hardly know is such a great idea. I think we both know how that would end."

Lyla chuckled heartily and nodded. "I guess I could see how you might think that. But you know me...that counts, doesn't it?"

She laughed and felt something clench in her stomach when the object of their discussion came back into view. "Yeah, it does."

"Well, good."

By the time they got back to the group, Jax was already heading towards her; the small grin on his lips told her he was happy to see her. The clench in her stomach returned with swift force.

"Hey." He called out to her softly.

"Hey." She answered with a grin, barely noticing when Lyla slipped away silently to find Opie.

"So, we're thinkin' about headin' down to the block party...it's just up the street a little," he started, pulling his hand a little too roughly through his hair. "So...I don't know what you had planned for the rest of the night but..."

She waved a hand at him. "Don't worry about it—I walked here. I can walk back to the hotel."

His eyes widened immediately. "Shit! No, that's not what I meant. Shit..."

His hands were in his hair again and then roughly over his face; she had no idea what was happening here. All she knew was that she didn't know what to expect from him or what he expected from her. Hearing a loud exhale from him, she decided to glance back up at him.

"I was goin' to ask you if you wanted to come with us but that's probably shot to shit now, huh?" He sighed, staring at the grass by his feet.

It took her a moment to register what his words actually meant and when they did, her head was shaking of its own volition.

"No...it's not," she laughed lightly. "I mean, it's not shot to shit. I wouldn't mind grabbing a beer or two for a little while."

The worried, frustrated expression on Jax's face quickly melted into a more confident and relieved grin.

"Alright," he gestured to his left and they started walking, the sounds of a party already lolling out in the distance. "You and Lyla seem to be getting along well."

"I like her. I don't usually get along well with..." She hesitated, not sure how much of her life she was ready to delve into just yet.

"Porn stars?" He offered.

Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open in shock. "What?"

Jax grimaced with a low groan. "I guess that never came up, huh?"

"No...no, it didn't." But when would it have realistically come up? That wasn't something typically talked about in casual conversation. "I was going to say I don't usually get along with other girls but I guess that works too."

"So...?"

It was as good a question as any. Did it matter that Lyla was a porn star? Should she be disgusted? Should she keep her distance now that she knew what Lyla did for a living? Her first instinct was to be almost scandalized by the revelation—if that's what it really was—but it was almost intriguing at the same time.

"No, I guess not." She said finally.

He watched her reactions carefully, as if trying to gauge if her response was genuine or not. She knew he'd probably been expecting her to say something along the likes of..."I never wanna talk to her ever again". But that wasn't how she felt. Lyla had been nothing but warm and friendly and welcoming to her. How could she judge her based on one fact about her life? She was quickly learning that if she expected other people to see past her own exterior, she needed to do the same for them as well.

"Really?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Sure...I've never met anyone with that...career...before but..."

He watched her with expectant eyes as he wait for her to continue.

"Well, I'd never choose that career path for myself but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little fascinated by people who do."

"Really?" He said again, this time drawing out the syllables of the word in his disbelief.

She just nodded with a shrug.

"You never fail to amaze me..." he was saying under his breath now as they found the rest of the group, although she noticed that now Gemma and a tall, white-haired man had also joined them.

"Jax...and Lily...what a surprise!" Gemma called out with a sly smile. She reached out to her son and pulled him into a tight hug and then completely threw Lily off-kilter by reaching over to her to do the same.

"Lily, this is my husband, Clay." Gemma gestured to the man practically attached to her hip.

Clay nodded his greeting to her and stretched out an arm for her to shake. She took it, albeit a little cautiously, as the information she'd learned earlier that day about him swirled around in her head. Standing in front of her, was the President of Samcro and Jax's step-father. And now that she was face to face with him, she fought the urge to retreat. His face was grizzled and bore a weary heaviness that was almost sad. Almost. But beyond that weariness was a glint in his eye, a glimmer of hostility that suggested he could rip you apart with his bare hands if he felt like it, or, at the very least, could easily get someone else to do it for him. This was not a man you wanted to cross. Not unlike the vibes she'd gotten from his wife, she realized with a near shudder.

"Nice to meet you, Lily. The boys takin' good care of ya?" Clay was saying to her now with a low, gravelly voice.

She nodded and pushed her uneasiness aside. "Yeah, they are...this has been fun."

"Good to hear."

Then, just like that, he turned his attention elsewhere and she blew out a breath with relief. Jax handed her a beer and she gratefully took it. He shot her that lop-sided grin and all the uneasiness and discomfort she'd just felt slipped away. Taking a few big gulps from her beer definitely helped too. She didn't realize she was shivering a little until he started leading her towards an open fire pit .

"You alright?" He asked gently.

"Yeah...I'm just..." She trailed off, not sure exactly what she wanted to say.

"It's a lot to take in, huh?"

She shrugged, rubbing her arms as she spoke. "It's not that...shit..."

"What?" His concerned eyes met hers and she was taken aback for a moment. When was the last time someone had looked at her this way? When was the last time someone had really taken an interest in what she was feeling...cared what she wanted, what she didn't want...Jax wasn't like any person she'd ever encountered before. He was an outlaw. He was more than a little rough around the edges. It was clear he could do just about anything he wanted, have any girl he wanted any way he wanted but here he was with her. What did he want from her? Why was he doing all this with her? But the more she looked in his eyes, the more she realized that she needed to stop thinking.

"Nothing." She answered simply.

"Alright."

She glanced at him and realized he wasn't buying it. It felt like he was looking right through her. Like he could see through all the defenses she'd put up since leaving LA. It unnerved her. But, when she looked at him again, she felt an overwhelming need to talk to him—to tell him what had happened—not because she felt like she owed him an explanation but just because she wanted to.

For a split second, she was going to do it. She was going to tell him. And then his wife appeared next to Gemma. It only took a moment for her steely gaze to find them, standing alone by the fire pit and probably way, way too close together in the eyes of Jax's soon-to-be ex-wife.

She didn't come to Fun Town to get in the middle of anything and she certainly didn't want to do anything that would make Wendy cause a scene. That woman just looked unstable—like she was coming apart at the seams—and she was going to do everything she could to just stay as far away from her as possible. Of course, it didn't help that said crazy woman was currently glaring at her with murder in her eyes.

"Shit." Jax muttered under his breath when he finally realized Wendy was there. His eyes shifted anxiously to hers and then he blew out a shaky breath.

"That's uh...that's my ex-wife. Well, soon-to-be-"

"I know, Jax." She interjected quietly. "I met her earlier today at the fundraiser. She introduced herself as your wife but your mom corrected her."

He blinked at her in surprise before turning to cast another glance at Wendy. "Yeah...she has a habit of doing that."

She nodded silently. "Maybe you should take me back to my hotel before she starts something...to avoid her, I guess."

He quickly downed the rest of his beer before tossing it into a nearby trash can. "Great idea, darlin'. Anything to get away from here."

Unfortunately, they had to walk somewhat in the direction of the rest of the group, where Gemma was unsuccessfully attempting to get Wendy away from. And even though Jax still walked around the opposite side of the group, Wendy's voice could still be heard:

"Fucking asshole!"

He winced at her words but kept walking. For the next couple of minutes, he didn't say anything—he just kept leading her back towards the hotel in complete silence while he puffed away anxiously on a cigarette. He wouldn't look at her and now he was also careful to keep her distance from her. She couldn't tell if he was ashamed or angry or frustrated or embarrassed or what. It was starting to drive her crazy too.

* * *

><p>Jax was losing his fucking mind. He didn't know how much more of Wendy's shit he could possibly take, especially Wendy's public shit. Granted, she hadn't made much of a scene but he knew exactly what she was capable of if given the chance. She could scream and punch and throw things like a possessed inmate if she wanted to—and he wasn't about to put Lily in the line of fire when the fan splattered shit all over the place.<p>

Everything had been going so well. So fucking well. He hadn't had that much fun just being in someone else's company in way too long. He had no idea what he wanted from Lily or what she wanted from him but he was willing to take whatever he could get at this point. Her laugh...her smile...her sense of humor...her crazy ability to take everything in stride...all of that was going to keep him up at night. Leave it to Wendy to show up and spray her hose of bullshit all over it. That was the last time, he told himself with commitment, the absolute last time he would allow her to ruin anything for him every again.

And now here they were, walking side by side and they hadn't said a word to each in almost five minutes. He was basically chain-smoking too so that probably wasn't helping his case. All he could was stare at the ground in front of him. What was he supposed to say? Well, Lily, I had a really great time with you tonight and I really want to keep spending time with you and I'd really like to see you naked sooner rather than later but we just have to make sure we avoid my crazy ex-wife at all costs...shit.

Just as he was about to say something to end the silence, she looked up at him with wide, kind eyes and he nearly dropped his cigarette. This woman had an effect on him—he couldn't quite define it or explain why—but she somehow had the ability to make him lose focus on everything around him except her.

And then she spoke: "She's wrong, you know."

"About what?" He already knew the answer but wanted to hear it anyways.

"About being an asshole."

"I think she said 'fucking asshole'."

She smiled and he felt his heart drop into his stomach. "You know what I meant."

"Yeah, I did."

"You're not an asshole."

He cocked an eyebrow at her and decided to call her bluff. "And how would you know that now? You've known me all of what—two days?"

A sly grin crept across her features. "In the two days that I've known you have done nothing but help me. You made sure I didn't get murdered or stolen _ and _you didn't let Joe rob me blind yesterday. You showed me a good time tonight—that has to count for something, right? Not really asshole behavior."

He shrugged. "How do you know I'm not just tryin' to get in your pants?"

Shock flickered across her face for a split second and he was mentally kicking himself for letting that one slip. If he had been talking to any other girl, he wouldn't have cared what he said to her or how he said it because the end result would still be the same. But Lily wasn't other girls. And he had no idea what to expect from her.

He watched in disbelief as she tilted her head to ask pointedly: "Are you?"

He practically skidded a stop and almost dropped his cigarette. Sure, he had no idea what to expect from her...but that reaction...

"Would it matter if I was?" He figured—what the hell? He was already in the hole...might as well dig it a little deeper and see what she would say.

Instead of giving him a verbal answer, she just shrugged and chuckled, which, he supposed was a good an answer as any.

"Well," she was saying now. "If it's any consolation, I think your ex-wife and my ex-fiance would be perfect for each other."

He laughed, wondering what his crazy, junkie ex-wife could possibly have in common with her ex-fiance. Then he realized that this was the first time she'd ever brought that up. He'd been hesitant to ask questions partly because none of her business was really his business and well, maybe the other part of him didn't really want to know. He didn't really want to end up in jail for assault and battery.

And when he looked at her again, he could see the indecision on her face. Should she say more? Should she go into the details? It wasn't really his place to pry. So he figured he'd let her do the talking and he'd do the listening.

After a moment's silence, she started talking.

"That night...the night I left was the first time he'd ever hit me, in case you wanted to know."

He had wanted to know but it didn't make him want to beat this guy's head in any less.

"The whole thing was so god-damn stupid," she went on, staring straight ahead of her. "It was one of those same shit different night situations...another one of Will's business meetings that went on all night long. I don't know what it was...maybe I'd had a little too much to drink or not enough to drink...maybe I just snapped. I don't know. But I just got up and walked away from the table. It was like I had stepped out of my body and was watching myself do what I had always wanted to do, you know?"

She shot a quick glance at him and he smiled reassuringly. He could almost picture this happening too, with what he knew about her, that she would just getting pissed and fed up and walking away.

"He went after me...started yelling at me and told me not to make a scene, even though he was the one making the scene. 'Come back to the table and do as you're told', he said...God, I just completely lost it. I told him to fuck himself."

He chuckled to himself, still watching this play out in his mind. He could practically see the fire in her eyes, the desire to get away from her piece of shit fiance.

"That was when he hit me."

That sobered him up pretty quick. The movie in his head was over now. He didn't want to picture that.

"So, I went back to the apartment, threw everything I could into my suitcases and left. I didn't even stop to change...I just had to get the fuck out of there."

"You're a fuckin' strong woman, you know that?"

She laughed bitterly and shook her head. "I wouldn't exactly say that."

He frowned at her...what the hell was she talking about? "It takes some serious balls to do what you did, Lily. To just pack up and leave like that without looking back...throwin' your phone away for Christ's sake? You got out, Lily. That's what matters."

She was looking up at him now with those wide, clear blue eyes of hers and it took all of his willpower not to pull her into his arms and kiss the shit out of her. Anything to get that look out of her eyes.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Jax."

"So tell me, then."

It was direct and maybe a little too forward since he'd never asked her for any details before. But she needed to talk. He could see that.

She hesitated for a few moments and then it all came spilling out of her.

"I know what you're probably thinking right now...poor little rich girl, right? I'm not about pity parties, trust me...but I'm not immune to the way some people here look at me. It's like—what is she doing here? How long is she going to slum it until she goes crying back to her trust fund?"

It wasn't too far from the truth. He'd heard almost the exact same thing from the stupid old bitch in front of him in line at the gas station that morning. And then again from another stupid old bastard and his bitch wife at the fundraiser, just a few feet from where Lily had stood as she was speaking to his mother.

"The people in this town," he tried to explain. "They don't really take to strangers that well. It's nothing personal; it's just self-preservation, I guess."

"Your family and your friends have been pretty nice."

He chuckled...if only she knew that his brothers and his mother were the absolute last people in Charming to welcome strangers...sure, they'd been friendly and cordial and all that but she was also a paying customer. Not to mention the fact that she was also going to be _leaving _Charming as soon as that part came in for her Bentley. If she was a threat to Samcro, they would be having zero contact with her that wasn't business related, himself included.

"Don't listen to anything anyone around here says...it's not worth it, darlin'."

She nodded slowly and he decided to go for it.

"Are you worried about someone comin' to look for you?"

She sighed. "I'm sure someone will eventually...that's why I threw away my phone..."

"But that will only buy you so much time..."

"I know. Will's probably been scouring the greater LA area for me. I'd like to think he wouldn't count on me just getting in my car and driving away, even though they've probably figured out my bank account's empty by now. And my dad...he's probably just sitting back, waiting for me to come crawling back."

"Sounds like a great guy."

She laughed again and he was grateful to hear the sound. "Picture the most arrogant, self-serving, detached, controlling, and power-hungry self-made head of a major corporation you can think of and that's probably a pretty accurate picture of my dad."

"So I was right then."

"And then some—he's just never really let me do...anything, really. I know how cliché that sounds but it's true. I've always felt like I was never good enough, I was never the son he wanted, never as the pretty, smart, successful daughter he was willing to settle for—I feel like I've always been trying to make up for something with him but I have no idea what I ever did...you know? Every A I ever took home, every award, every scholarship...never good enough. It was like he just took one look and with a wave of his hand, he could make me disappear."

He tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat but couldn't quite get it down.

"I wanted to go to UCLA but he wanted me to go to Berkeley because that's where he went, where his father went, and so on and so on. The only compromise I was ever really able to win was my major—I wanted to try for the theatre department but he said that was an 'unsuitable career for his daughter' and that I would make him a 'laughingstock' if I ever tried for a real singing career so I settled for art history because that was at least somewhat respectable in his eyes—especially considering that he told me all I needed was a major in something decent so I could marry well. God, the more I talk, the more it sounds like we're living in the 19th century or something."

He smiled sadly when she looked up at him and resisted the urge to reach out and touch her. He wanted to comfort her but he wanted to touch her too. The more she spoke about her past, the more he wanted to know what it felt like to put his arms around her.

"Will worked for my dad—that was how I met him. I guess I only started dating him and agreed to marry him because I knew it was the only thing I could do that would actually make my dad happy. It was the heir he always wanted. I guess I wanted to leave them both, then...I think that's what I was really doing."

"You did the right thing...what about your mom?"

And just like that, the fire in her eyes died out. He wanted to punch himself for treading so carelessly.

"She died when I was eight." She whispered finally with little emotion.

He nodded and then, without thinking, slipped his fingers over her hand and squeezed it gently. She blinked back at him and before he realized what was happening, she leaned closer to him until her shoulder was pressed into his.

"My dad died when I was fifteen...motorcyle accident." He wasn't quite sure why he told her that; he didn't typically make it a habit to talk about his dad and when he did, it was usually with his mother. But he had expected them to have this in common.

"I'm sorry." She was saying to him now.

He nodded back. "Yeah, I'm sorry too."

After a few moments of slightly uncomfortable silence, he blew out a breath.

"Well...the good news is you can do anything you want now. You deserve that."

"That's the idea, hopefully."

He smiled at her again but he felt a pang of disappointment when he realized they were standing at the door of her hotel room. It was time to say good-night but he wasn't really ready to do that yet. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. Maybe he needed to take a step back, reassess what he was really doing here, what he really wanted here...he wasn't exactly going to be doing himself any favors if he got in too deep with this girl. But he'd never really gotten in too deep before, at least not like this. With Wendy, it was all about pity. It was about not wanting to be alone anymore. About having a stable constant in his bed instead of a revolving door of disconnect. That hadn't gotten him anything but a pile of complete bullshit to deal with now. But hindsight was also 20/20 and he needed to stop thinking about the past and the future and just focus on what was right in front of him. And in front of him was the smartest, bravest, ballsiest, most beautiful girl he'd ever encountered. And wouldn't he be the stupidest bastard in the history of stupid bastards if he didn't take this golden opportunity for the chance for something real? Even if it was only for a couple of weeks?

Then she was looking into his eyes as she leaned against her door and her fingers were gently tugging on the edges of his leather cut. It was like she could read his fucking mind. She was waiting for him to do something...and then his hand was reaching up to touch her face and it was so god-damn soft he thought his fingers could melt right into it. One of her hands was snaking up to his neck and he closed his eyes for a moment as he lowered his head closer. All he'd wanted to do was just breathe her in, just for a second, but then his head was ducking lower and lower until his nose was at her neck. She tilted her head to the side to give him better access and his lips brushed against her skin. He felt her shudder against him and he slid an arm around her hips to bring her closer.

He brought his head up to meet her hooded, sparking blue eyes and he couldn't stop himself. He leaned forward and pressed into her lips, feeling her arms wrap around him tighter. Her mouth opened and he didn't hesitate to slip his tongue in to deepen what was happening. One hand was attached to her face, the other was pulling her hips closely to his until he could feel her fully against him, almost making him completely lose his shit in the process.

She just tasted too damn good. And as her tongue darted in and out of her mouth, the hand at her hip slowly inched lower until he was finally touching the ass he'd been fantasizing about for the last two days. Her hands were on his face now, pulling him closer to her and he knew exactly what she wanted. There was no hesitation from her as he felt her hips started to lightly grind against his and he couldn't stop himself from giving it right back. Then his lips pulled away from hers to find her neck again and she shuddered when she felt the contact, just like the last time he'd spent some time there. But he wanted to go back to her lips—he wanted to taste her again—and after a light trail from her neck, up her cheek, and finally back to her lips, he was back where he wanted to be, tasting her tongue and wanting to be inside her door, not outside.

His fingers snaked inside her shirt and he almost groaned into her mouth at the feel of her skin. So soft. So fucking soft and smooth. He was tracing the line between her jeans and the skin underneath, contemplating whether or not he should go further, if she would let him go further, when she solved his dilemma for him. He felt her hands push gently against his chest and he took that as his signal to hit the brakes.

When his eyes found hers again, he caught a glimmer of shy apology in them. He smiled down at her to reassure her he wasn't upset. Far from it. He was almost grateful she had skidded them to a stop. This wasn't exactly how or why he wanted this to happen. And he didn't want her to do something she might regret in the morning either. He didn't want her to regret anything with him. The next time they were in this position, he told himself, he was going to take it slow. He was going to make it last, he was going to savor it and make her scream until her voice gave out. Tonight just wasn't the night.

"I'm sorry, Jax..." she started hoarsely.

He brought a hand to her cheek and rubbed it softly. "Nothing to be sorry about, darlin'."

She nodded with a shy smile. "Alright..."

"Can I see you tomorrow?" He wouldn't take no for answer. He needed to see her, needed to be with her again.

She nodded with a wide, sexy grin that almost made him pull her hips into his again. "When?"

His thumb traced her cheek as he spoke, loving the way her skin felt. "I have some shit to take care of at TM tomorrow but I'll call ya as soon as I'm done...around 5 or 6, I hope. Then I'm all yours, darlin'."

He liked the way she shivered at his last words and made a mental note that she looked fucking sexy when she shivered. He was going to have to make it a habit to make sure that happened frequently and often when he was around her. He also had no idea what they were going to do tomorrow but he couldn't give two shits about that right now. All that mattered was seeing her and getting another chance to do the right way.

"Sounds good, Jax." She whispered back to him as she opened her door. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Can't fuckin' wait, darlin'."

He gripped her hips again to pull her back to plant a long good-night kiss on those soft, plump lips that were somehow intoxicating him. Then he reeled himself back in and pulled away.

"'Night, darlin'."

She smiled again and he almost pulled her back. "'Night, Jax."

Once the door was shut and he heard her lock it, he turned back into the night, feeling like he'd just won the lottery. At that moment, the fact that she was just going to be leaving in a couple weeks had little importance. It was almost like they were on borrowed time. And sooner or later, he knew that time would run out and everything would run its course but until that happened, he was going to ride this thing for everything he could get. He'd never just wanted to 'spend time' with a girl before and he'd definitely never really asked to see a girl again. They'd just always managed to find him and then he'd just went with it. This was different.

Whatever this thing with her was...it wasn't gonna last. But he'd be damned if he was going to just sit back and waste whatever time he had left with her. It didn't matter how it was going to end. All he was going to think about from here on out was the present.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**-Sorry again for the wait. I wish I could average more than a chapter a month but that's just how nuts my life is right now. I finally had some time...so far, no one has called it yet with where this story is going but there were a few more hints dropped in this chapter.

Hopefully you don't think they're moving too fast...they are kinda on borrowed time right now and neither one is either really thinking about or wanting a future at this point so I guess we can't blame them...especially Lily, right?

Let me know if the length of these chapters is alright-I know they're long but I have a certain amount of story I want in each chapter and I don't really stop myself until I hit that. But if you think I would cut it off at some point or split the chapters in half, please let me know.

So...we have them going on their first 'real' date (if that's what they wanna call it) and now they're all about living in the moment but then the shit will hit the proverbial fan when their lives start to catch up with them...next chapter! Feel free to make predictions!

If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave me a review and let me know what you think (even if you didn't like it). Feedback really keeps me going! R/R!


	4. The Pull

**A/N-**So this is where this story starts to really earn it's rating. Just letting you know...

* * *

><p>AN EDUCATION<p>

Chapter Four

It was 2:00 and Lily could feel the coundown to Jax's call ticking away. She'd paced around the hotel room, flipped through the TV channels, paced around the room again, and after the third time going past E! News Live, she'd given up completely and sped off to the closest thing to a department store Charming had for running gear. What she'd really needed to do was clear her head—to weed out the anxiety and the nervousness and the confusion she couldn't quite get past.

By the time she showered, her anxiety peaked when she realized she had no idea what to wear. He'd never mentioned where they were going or what they were doing—so how could she possibly know how to prepare for...whatever this was. And the more she thought about all the possibilities the night could bring, the more she thought about the night before and the fact that she had basically been dry-humping a hot near-stranger outside her hotel door in a strange town. She could still feel his breath against her skin, his rough, calloused hands scaling the edge of her jeans, the expert way he'd gripped her hips to pull her closer against him, and the unmistakably hard bulge in his jeans...she had to sit down.

What the hell had she gotten herself into? The last time she'd been completely implusive like this was a drunken, somewhat sloppy one-night stand with a guy she'd met that night at a frat party—and in the morning, not only had she felt like hell but also like a complete idiot. Everytime she'd seen him on campus from then until graduation, she'd ducked her head and pretended not to see him. The mortification of her drunken stupidity as well as the fear of her father somehow discovering what she had done—rumors spread quickly and many of her classmates were the children of her father's business associates-had been enough to make her avoid raging parties like that for the rest of her college existence. Now, in hindsight, she had a feeling she'd missed out on some things for skipping social gatherings with her roommates.

But still...just thinking about what happened last night made her feel dizzy.

She glanced back down at the assortment of outfits strewn across the bed. There was a nice pair of fitted black jskinny jeans with a slightly revealing tube top, blue jeans and a white flowy top, and a tight bright blue skirt whose Spandex-like material that wrapped around every curve. Hmmm. The real question was: what did she really what the outcome of this evening to be? Did she want a repeat of last night—which would be nice and thrilling and exciting all the same. Or did she want to let him into her hotel room and, more specifically, into her hotel bed? Her outfit would most certainly determine the mood of...whatever this was...and he would know it the second he laid eyes on her. She picked nervously at her fingernails and glanced at her phone.

And before she could stop herself, she was dialing her cousin—the only family member and relic of her past she could completely trust and the only person who would know exactly what to tell her.

"Hello?" Ally answered a little hesitantly, which startled her for a moment. But then she remembered she was also calling from an unfamiliar number.

She closed her eyes at the sound of her cousin's voice and felt a lump form in her throat. She swallowed heavily and pushed down the tears springing up in her eyes.

"Hey, Al." She replied softly.

"Lily? Oh my God...Lily! Where are you? Are you ok? What number is this? Do you need me to come get you? I'll get on a plane right now...just tell me-"

"Whoa, Al...slow down," she laughed lightly. "I'm fine. I'm ok. I got a new number. I just...I just needed to hear your voice."

"Lil...where are you? No one's heard anything from you in over three days." Ally's voice was filled with her trademark bluntness and she couldn't help but smile into the phone.

She sighed, ready to tell the story. "Well, I was at a club with Will and some of his business associates and-"

"I know, Lil," Ally cut in quietly. "Will's been calling me practically every hour on the hour to see if I've heard anything from you. He told me you left and I figured you'd finally had it with that motherfucker and bailed on his ass."

"Did he tell you he hit me?"

She heard Ally take a sharp intake of breath. "That son of a motherfuckin' bastard bitch—if I ever see him again, I'll-"

"Ally, Ally! Calm down, alright? I'm fine—I got out; that's what matters right?" An eerie feeling crept into her stomach as Jax's words to her the previous night echoed in her own voice. Her confession to him had surprised her, probably him too, but it had felt good to finally say the words out loud. It had also felt good to explain everything to him, to finally give him the answers to his unspoken questions. All he had done was listen and support her. It was everything she hadn't realized she'd needed.

"Alright...so where the hell are you?"

"I'm in Charming...my stupid car broke down and I'm waiting for the part he needs to fix it—I'll probably be here for at least another week, maybe two."

"Shit...where is Charming exactly?"

"Let's just say it's five hours directly north of LA."

"So you're stuck there...what are you going to do, Lil?" Ally's voice was filled with such worry and conern, something she wasn't used to hearing from her cousin, and, maybe it was the unfamiliarity in her voice or the sound of her voice in general, but it was the first time those words really sunk in.

"I mean," Ally went on, "You're not gonna stay there, obviously, but you have to live somewhere and do something...you could come to Chicago—I could get you a job at the restaurant. My studio is pretty small but we could make it work."

Lily sighed and fell back onto the bed. "I haven't thought that far ahead, Al...thanks for the offer, though. I'll think about it..."

"So you really just got in your car and drove until your car broke down, huh? Boy, are you a walking cliché...wait a minute, who were you talking about before? You said 'he'?"

Here we go. "He's, uh, the mechanic fixing my car and...I, um, I sorta have a date with him tonight, at least I guess that's what it is."

"Tell me everything immediately."

She sighed, biting back a smile. It felt good to finally be having a conversation with her cousin that was actually positive when it came to guys, even if she was going to leave out the part about him being a technically married, outlaw biker who'd been to prison. There had been too many times where she'd called Ally, sometimes in the middle of the night, to air her frustrations about the lack of...just about everything in her romantic life. It was nice to finally be excited about it again. "Long story short—his name is Jax and he's been...I don't exactly know how to describe it—he's just been supportive and-"

"_Supportive_?" She could practically see her cousin cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, I know it probably doesn't make sense but he's actually someone I've been able to rely on—he's helped me with just about everything I've needed here...we went to this carnival the town has every summer last night and when he walked me home, I told him everything about Will...and my dad...I don't know why; I just felt like I could, you know?"

"Is he hot?"

"Unbelievably hot—I swear to God, sometimes it hurts to look at him he's so attractive. He's completely the opposite of any guy I've ever been with before—especially Will—and he's rough, he probably has a few tattoos, he has a motorcycle, he has this gorgeous longish blonde hair and he just as this...swagger..."

She waited for her intel to sink in before Ally let out a deep sigh.

"You're a bitch." She said finally. "So..."

"So what?"

Ally sighed heavily again as if she were speaking to a child. "Any action last night after he walked you home?"

"It got a little hot and heavy outside my hotel room door and then he asked if he could see me again today."

"Nice...that's what I like to hear."

"Now my dilemma is what to wear."

Ally listened carefully as she detailed her options. "Well, if you go with the jeans and flowy top, you're basically telling him to keep his hands to himself and that is not what you want. Now black jeans and tube top would be sexy but you're probably telling him it's gonna be last night redux and if you wear that skirt, you're basically letting him into your panties before the night even really starts. So, you just have to ask yourself one question: do you want to sleep him tonight or not? And please say yes."

She hesitated for a moment. "That's what I've been debating...I don't know...I mean it's all I can think about today, right? It's been weeks since Will and I...I just...I guess this is just sorta new territory for me...and maybe I don't want him to think I'm just an easy lay or something."

"Is that the only thing stopping you? Who cares what he thinks? Who gives a shit what anyone thinks? You sure there isn't anything else...no regrets about Will? No regrets about leaving? That's it?"

"I don't regret leaving and I definitely don't regret leaving Will...I'm still trying to sort all this shit out, you know? And I just keep thinking...hell, what do I have to lose, you know? I'm only going to be here a little while longer and then I'll never see him again. Why shouldn't I do something just because I want to? Why am I fucking over-analyzing this, Ally?"

"Because you like him, Lil."

"Yeah, I guess I do." She sighed again.

"You know," Ally was laughing now. "I have to tell you...I knew you'd call me eventually but I was expecting something more along the lines of...I don't know, distress and maybe some crying—not to mention living in fear of your dad finding out..but you sound so collected, so fuckin' calm, Lil—and I definitely was not expecting you to tell me you met someone literally the day after you left LA. You just...you sound good, Lil; you sound happy."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she laughed again. "Now, listen to me, ok? You're going to go out with this smokin' hot mechanic and you're going to have fun on a date for once in your life and ride on the back of his motorcycle and then when he takes you back to your hotel, you're not going to think about it, Lil—just do whatever you wanna do when you wanna do it."

She chewed on the edge of her fingernail in thought, contemplating her cousin's advice. Maybe, deep down, she'd known this all along. Maybe she'd known it the second he'd walked up to her in Teller-Morrow's parking lot. It was like some magnetic force had been pulling them together and the night before had only made it blatantly obvious. There was something between them. What difference did it make if she wasn't going to be in town for very long? Shouldn't she let herself give in to something for once in her life? Shouldn't she just let go and just stop thinking?

So, after promising Ally she'd keep in touch and walking back over to the clothing display on the bed, she decided to wear the skirt.

* * *

><p>Jax puffed anxiously on his third cigarette in ten minutes and looked at the clock again. Shit, it was already after four and they still weren't here yet—he hoped he wouldn't be cutting it too close. He was getting way too impatient for this meeting; sure, it was an important meeting for the club and he definitely had to be there but he wished they would just get going with it already. It already was pretty much a done deal anyways and was really a win-win for everyone; Samcro needed more manpower as more and more business prospects came their way and the Mayans needed affiliation with a big-name MC to keep them afloat. The only hiccup, of course, was the Niners, who would definitely want in on the deal and definitely want to control the deal too. It was agreed early on that the Niners needed to be pushed way the hell out. The Mayans had offered a somewhat extreme but effective method to keep the Niners away—they would clear out one of their smaller, less frequently used warehouses near the outskirts of Charming and Samcro would blow it up—all a farce to force the Niners into steering clear of any potential trouble between the 'rival' MCs.<p>

The proposal had raised some eyebrows in the club but it was easy to see that the potential gains heavily outweighed the potential risks. Samcro was clearly the more powerful, influential club and so the club would also have more sway in this 'friendship'-more of the grunt and bitch work could be passed on to the Mayans, freeing up the Sons for more important matters and more opportunities for a profit. Ope was a pro with explosives and by the this time tomorrow, they'd be in a bankable position in their new friendship with the Mayans. Now all they had to was iron out the details.

Finally, the roar of motorcycle engines bounced off the deserted road where they sat waiting and Jax blew out a frustrated breath. Time to get this party started.

Marcus Alveraz, the Mayan President, stepped heavily off his bike, flanked by two members and shook hands with Clay, and then Jax with a road-weary expression.

"How we lookin' for tonight?" Clay asked, getting right to the point. They had been waiting for over ten minutes and he did not like to wait.

"It's lookin' good, brother—we have two options. Our warehouse off of 77th or the one on Route 54. My brothers and I—we'd like your club to choose which one, as a token of our appreciation." Alveraz grunted roughly.

Jax's instincts immediately kicked into high gear as his brain computed the actual locations of the warehouses. The one off of 77th Street was less than four blocks from Lily's hotel and four blocks was still four blocks too close. He felt Clay's eyes on him and knew he was being given the signal to decide.

"Route 54," he barked quickly. "Less people, less traffic...it's just easier."

Clay nodded his confirmation to Alveraz. "What about the rest of the details?"

"My guys'll have everything out long before your guys even get there," Alveraz replied with a steady confidence. "My Lieutenant will make sure of that."

Jax's eyes narrowed at the word "lieutenant" and he shifted his gaze uneasily to his step-father, who seemed unfazed. Alveraz's "lieutenant", Hector Salazar, was lingering off to the side with a smug arrogance that made Jax subconsciously clench his fists, almost reflexively. The man in question had risen through the ranks of the Mayans quickly, much quicker than say, a prospect of the Sons, and his new promotion was still untested and in general, seemed like a poor judgment call on Alveraz's part. Why rest so much responsibility on the shoulders of a guy who seemed so inept? Well, if he was being completely honest, he didn't necessarily have the evidence to back that up but every time he and Salazar were in the same room, he found he spent most of his time just observing. Alveraz's new "lieutenant" had shifty, calculating eyes that roamed around with an air of smugness and an odd smirk and that just didn't sit well with Jax. Like his father always said, a man's eyes are the window into his soul. Clay, on the other hand, didn't really see the issue. They needed to trust Alveraz, he'd reasoned, and so they also needed to trust Alveraz's choice in leadership within his own MC. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to be watching like a fucking hawk for a slip-up to prove him right.

When Salazar realized Jax was watching him, he folded his arms defensively across his chest, as if he could read his mind and stared right back with a cold, blank expression that made him narrow his eyes.

A sudden movement to his left made him break off their stalemate of a staring contest and he reluctantly looked on as Clay handed Alveraz a stack of hundreds.

"For your warehouse, my friend—my guys will be there by midnight," Clay was saying as Alveraz took the bills from him.

"Thank you, Clay—everything will be ready."

As Jax watched the Mayans ride away, he tried to unfurl the knot settling in the pit of his stomach. Something about this just didn't feel right. Maybe he just didn't trust Salazar. Even though his rationale wasn't entirely justified, he couldn't shake the feeling that—somehow—Salazar was going to fuck this up.

"You sure you trust Salazar?" Jax asked under his breath as he and Clay walked back to their bikes.

"Not this shit again, Jax...this is not the time to be tryin' to rehash some fucked up beef you have with Salazar. We can't come into this thing actin' like suspicious women—that's not settin' us up to be the more profitable party in this arrangement and you know that. Alveraz trusts him enough to promote him. That's good enough for me and it should be good enough for you too." Clay retorted, annoyance and frustration apparent in his voice.

"Well, it's not, alright?"

"Look, Jax—Opie, Juice, and Tig are gonna take care of business tonight and when they get there, it's gonna go off without a hitch. You need to get on board with this whether you like it or not because this is the way the club is goin'-_you_ need to go with it." Clay jabbed a finger in his chest as he spoke, forcing Jax to take a step back.

He readjusted his cut and swung a leg over the side of his bike, snapping his helmet on with blatant agitation. A glance at the clock on his bike—4:45—and he swore loudly.

"What?" Clay asked with a smirk. "Got a hot date tonight or something, son?"

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><p>Lily fidgeted on the bed and, once again, stole a glance at the clock resting on the night stand. He should be here anytime now and she didn't know why she was suddenly so restless. She'd calmed down almost immediately after talking to Ally and felt near-confident in this choice and in this night, even if she still had no idea where he was going to take her. She stood and shuffled into the bathroom for probably the tenth time in twenty minutes to reassess her appearance...she just had to make sure since she still had some time.<p>

She'd decided on a light, silky white tank top, a long silver necklace with a circular pendant, and silver, sparkly bangles to go with the tight, curve-hugging bright blue skirt and quickly tucked a wayward end back into the skirt until everything looked right. She'd went for simple but glamorous; her hair was slightly tousled into smooth, beachy waves and her makeup was fresh and light, even though she'd went a little heavy on the mascara. She just couldn't help it. Mascara made her eyes pop and she'd had that in mind as she'd layered on an extra black coat. And in spite of any misgivings, she'd thrown on the one other pair of strappy heels she'd managed to throw in one of her suitcases, just for good measure. Well, if she was going with the skirt, she might as well go all the way and wear the knockout, fuck-me pumps too.

For a fleeting moment, she wondered if she was being too obvious, that maybe it was a little too much. But then she looked at herself in the mirror again and decided she looked good. No, she looked better than good. Maybe she looked the way she felt too. A small smile crept onto her face and with a confident nod, any restlessness, nervousness, and agitation slipped away.

A few minutes later, the sound of Jax's Harley sent a wave of panic over her. He rode a motorcycle and she was wearing a skirt...fuck, fuck, fuck. There was no way she was getting on the back of his bike wearing what she was wearing. Sure, it was stretchy and she could probably make it work but that was just...that was just a little too much. What the hell had she been thinking? She was so focused on the impact of the skirt and what it meant that she'd completely overlooked one glaringly obvious detail.

He was knocking on her door now and she haphazardly kicked off her heels to make a mad dash over to her suitcase. The black jeans and tube top...that's what she needed; she just needed a few minutes to...

"Lily?" Jax's voice called through the door.

She hopped closer to the door to appease him. "Yeah, Jax—I just need five minutes!"

"You alright in there?"

"I'm fine...yeah, just...give me a sec. I'm really sorry; I'm just—" she tripped over one of her cast-off heels. "Shit!"

"Everything ok?"

"Ow," she bit out, holding her ankle. "I'm fine."

"You wanna let me in?"

"No." She called out bluntly and she heard him chuckle through the other side of the door. With a sigh, she shuffled closer to the door and regretfully opened it to let him in. He was waiting patiently on the other end and his eyebrows flew up into his forehead the second their eyes met.

"I just...uh," she started breathlessly, feeling a little light-headed now that his piercing eyes were on her. "I just need to change real quick, then I'll be ready; I promise."

He frowned and rubbed his chin as his eyes drifted from her bare feet to her eyes again, lingering especially long on the area her skirt was covering. He started chewing on his bottom lip before a sly grin crept onto his face.

"Don't change, darlin'."

That stunned her into silence for a moment. "I just, uh, I guess I realized my outfit and your, um, motorcycle aren't exactly compatible so I figured I'd-"

"I wouldn't say that," he cut in abruptly. "I'd say you and my bike are very compatible, darlin'. Trust me—you look fuckin' amazing."

There was something in his eyes that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Something that told her she just needed to go with it and give in. The way he was looking at her with that cloudy, hungry stare...she almost completely lost the feeling in her knees. What the hell? She'd figure out how to manuever herself onto his bike without looking like an idiot or flashing her underwear. She could do it.

"Alright."

Once her shoes were on and her clutch was in hand, she was very aware that he stayed behind her as she locked the door and then started out towards his bike. She could feel his eyes on her the entire walk through the parking lot and he was still trailing behind her when they arrived at their destination. And even though it made her nervous and it was a little awkward knowing he was staring at her ass the entire time, it thrilled her just the same.

"So, where are we going?" She asked softly, her stomach doing flip-flops as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Are ya hungry?" He asked as his lop-sided grin slid onto his face; he waited for her to nod. "Well, there's this place a few blocks away—it's not fancy or anything but it's nice and it's clean and the food's good, decent drinks, decent pool tables...I figure we start there and see where the night takes us. What do you think?"

She smiled, feeling her cheeks growing warm at the meaning in his words. Not only was he concerned with taking her somewhere 'nice' and 'clean', which she had a feeling was out of the norm for him—but there was also the underlying hint of what the night had in store.

"Sounds perfect."

Any self-conscious slipped away as she carefully hiked her stretchy skirt up just enough so that she could swing a long leg over the side of Jax's bike without his help, even though he was smirking at her the whole time as he looked on with amusement. Once she was settled in on the back of his bike, he hopped on and revved the motor. Without thinking, she scooted closer to him, as close as she could get with her skirt in the way, and tenatively slid her arms around his waist, nearly hugging him from behind. She leaned in and all she could smell was leather, gas, and something else that was distinctly him.

About five minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of "Journey's", which was clearly more a bar than a restaurant, but a nice change of pace, she thought as Jax parked his bike. It was small and the inside had an almost backwoods feel to it with fresh pine barstools, thick, dark logs stacked around the walls, a dusty fireplace on the farthest wall, and plenty of old West memorabila scattered around the whole place. She liked it almost immediately.

Jax led her to a booth near the back and gestured for her to slid in as a waitress approached them, menus in hand. Once they'd ordered drinks and some food, there was a moment where neither said anything. They both just watched each other from their respective ends of the booth and a moment later, a grin slowly slid onto Jax's face. She bit her lip with a smile and had to look away.

"So..." she started a little shakily, still smiling. "How was your shift at the shop today?"

It felt a little strange to be asking him about his day...almost like they were just a normal couple going out for dinner on any normal night.

"Same old, same old," he said with a shrug. "How about you? What'd you do all day? Goin' crazy in that room all by yourself?"

"Not really," she lied with another smile—he grinned right back, obviously reading right through her. "But I did go running today...that was nice...and I...I called my cousin too."

His eyebrows rose and he took a pull from his beer, his eyes never leaving hers. "How'd that go?"

She shrugged. "Well, she was naturally pissed that she hadn't heard from me earlier but it just felt so good to hear her voice, you know?"

He nodded slowly and smiled faintly. "That's good...I'm glad."

"I guess I just needed to let her know I was ok; she's the only family member I've ever been able to trust and I don't know...something just compelled me to call her today."

"So what did she say?"

"Just that she already knew I'd left—Will's apparently been calling her to see if she's heard from me."

His face darkened immediately at her words. "You don't think she'd tell him, right? Even on accident?"

"No," she waved it off. "Ally would never do that...she's always hated Will too. I'm pretty sure she just hangs up on him anyways."

He nodded and seemed a little appeased by her answer. As if on cue, their food arrived, and then Jax got to eating like the typical guy he was, shoveling fries and his burger in his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days. She smiled and went to work on the chicken wrap in front of her, feeling grateful that they could have moments of silence like that without it seeming awkward or like dead air.

"You ready for another drink, Lily?" Jax's voice called out to her.

Her eyes flew to her glass, which was near-empty, and as she was glancing around for their waitress, Jax was already on it and let out a loud whistle as he waved a bartender over.

"The lady needs another drink," Jax glanced over at her. "Another beer, right?"

She shook her head. "Actually, I'll take a tequila sunrise, please."

Jax's eyebrows rose as he ordered another beer for himseld and he laughed as the bartender walked away. "Tequila, huh? I wouldn't have guessed that."

She just shrugged. "I like the way it tastes."

"Hell, what else don't I know about you?"

"A lot, I guess." She laughed. "Ask me whatever you want, Jax. I'm an open book."

"Alright," he smirked at her with a tilt of his head as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm...was tequila your drink of choice in college?"

She nodded with an easy smile. "Oh yeah. Next question."

He chewed on a fry in thought. "Who's your favorite artist?"

She frowned for a moment, almost considering if he was asking her about music but then realized he was referring to actual art.

"You remember what my major was?" She asked in slight disbelief that he had really been listening to her the night before.

Now he was frowning. "What, you thought I wasn't listening?"

"No, no, no...it's not that; it's just that...well, I guess I'm impressed that you were."

"Well, now that we have that cleared up...you still need to answer my question."

She put her elbow up to the table and rested her chin in her hand as she spoke. "It's hard to choose. There are so many that I love...I guess if I had to choose, it would be a tie between Dali and Monet."

"I've heard of Monet before but I can't say I know who Dali is." He responded with a shrug.

She waved her hand. "Don't worry about it."

"So how did you go from theatre to art history anyway?" He had both arms folded across the table and was leaning towards her with real, sincere interest. The scene was almost arresting—when had Will ever shown an interest in anything that interested her? The answer to that was so obvious she almost started to laugh.

"My mom always took me to the Art Center in LA—she would always point out her favorites and she'd talk about the different styles and colors the artist chose and why they did it, how each piece represented something that was going on in the world. That always stayed with me, you know—I guess she instilled that fascination of the process of art and what it represented in me. I started going to the Art Center every year on her birthday after she died and then, when I was around 13, I think, I just started going all the time. It was like being with her again and by the time I got to college, I guess I figured if I couldn't make myself happy, I would choose a major that would've made her happy."

He smiled softly and carefully slid one of his hands out closer to her; his hand stopped moving for only a second, as if he was re-evaluating the move, and then it was all the way across the table and covering her hand until his fingers were wrapped tightly around hers. Then without warning, he leaned across the table until he was mere inches away from her face. Once she realized what he was doing, she leaned forward to meet him the rest of the way until their lips pressed against each other. His hand brushed against her cheek and then rested on her neck until he pulled back to settle back into his side of the booth.

"Thanks," she smiled, feeling flushed and maybe a little high from the kiss. "I think I needed that."

"Don't worry about it," he laughed. "I've been wanting to do that since you opened your door today."

"So what took you so long?" She put her chin back on her hand and smirked.

His eyebrows rose and he leaned back against the tall back of the booth. "I don't know, darlin'. Now I'm really wishin' I had done it sooner. But I'll get more chances tonight, right?"

His eyebrows rose suggestively as he spoke and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh," she faked a listless sigh. "I don't know. We'll see...maybe if you play your cards right."

He winked at her as he grabbed a fry off her plate. "Sounds good, darlin'."

She smirked at him. "Can I ask you a question now?"

"Go for it."

"Do you call every girl 'darlin' or is that just one of your moves?"

He coughed a little, choking on the fry and grabbed helplessly for his beer. "I...uh...I guess I've never thought about it like that before...is it working?"

"I haven't decided yet."

He cleared his throat and played nervously with his collar before finally meeting her eyes. "Well...you let me know when you figure it out, alright?"

She laughed at him and playfully threw a fry his way; he tried to duck but it hit him square in the chest. He picked it up and threw it right back at her as she let out a soft, playful yelp. He made a move to grab another fry off his own plate but she immediately put her hands in the air.

"Ok, ok...I surrender. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, _darlin_'." He smiled and laughed. "Oops, sorry. Won't happen again."

"I never said I didn't like it," she pointed out. "I was just asking a question."

"Sure you were."

She thought of something else she wanted to ask, something real, but waited as the waitress took their plates away, probably in attempt to keep them from throwing food at each other again. "Have you always rode a motorcyle?"

She had a feeling she already knew the answer but wanted to hear it in his own words anyways.

He nodded and cast a somewhat wistful, almost longing glance at his motorcyle that was just barely visible by the front door of the bar. "I've just always grown up with it, you know? It's in my blood—my dad had me on one before I could even walk—it's just a way of life. I wouldn't want to live any other way either."

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I get that."

A few minutes later, Jax excused himself to go to the bathroom and Lily wandered over to the jukebox. Getting a few dollars out of her clutch, she started flipping through the songs, trying to find something worth listening to. She glanced around the bar and noticed that the crowd was starting to pick up even though it wasn't even nine yet—then she realized just how long her and Jax had already been sitting at their booth, just talking and laughing and having a good time. Yeah, she was having a good time. A really good time. Her eyes closed for a moment as she remembered their brief kiss earlier. She'd definitely been wanting him to do that all night and the suddenness of it, the way he'd moved across the table to find her lips, made that weak, shaky feeling creep up into her knees. She sighed at the memory before going back to using the rest of her credits in the jukebox.

A hand slid around her lower waist and she jumped at the contact, whipping her head around to see what the hell was going on only to meet Jax's laughing, shining eyes.

"Sorry," he murmured into her neck, now sliding his arm all the way around her waist and placed a soft kiss on her skin. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"I don't mind," she whispered breathlessly, his sudden closeness making her a little light-headed. "I was just thinking about you actually."

He kissed her neck again and brushed some of her hair aside to get better access to her skin. "Oh yeah? What were you thinkin' about?"

She just shrugged and smirked up at him, just revelling in the feel of his arm around her. She turned around so she could face him and wrapped both arms around his neck, and, wthout any hesitation, stood up a little on her toes to kiss him; he must've been surprised by the bold move because it took him a moment to respond but when he did, he pulled her tighter against him and slid his tongue deliberately into her mouth to deepen the kiss. When they finally pulled away, he leaned back on his heels with a wide, sexy grin.

"Wanna play some pool?" He asked, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Sure...should we get another drink?" She made a move toward the bar but he stopped her.

"Don't worry, darlin', I got it—tequila sunrise, right?" He asked, his eyes laughing as his mouth curved up into a sly smirk.

She just rolled her eyes. "I'll get the table; don't worry."

He was still laughing as he walked away, even turning once to catch her eyes again, still laughing. She just shook her head and started fishing through her clutch for enough spare change to put in the pool table. She set two quarters down on the table but dropped her clutch thin e process. Bending down to pick it up, she came face to face with a pair of dirty steel-toed boots. For a fleeting moment, she considered getting on her hands and knees to crawl away from those boots but it figured it would be futile anyways. With a barely audible groan, she straightened back up to meet the rough, scruffy, and smiling face of a man dressed in a red, cut-off flannel shirt, grease-stained jeans, and who was towering over her, in spite of her three-inch heels.

"Evenin', sweetheart," he growled in a gruff, dangerous voice she was sure was meant to be seductive. "I can't believe Teller left you all by yourself. Looks like I'm just gonna have to keep you company while you wait for his stupid ass to get back over here."

He made a sly attempt to put an arm around her shoulders which she quickly ducked and side-stepped to the furthest edge of the pool table. She glanced anxiously over to the bar for Jax but couldn't find him anywhere. Where the hell was he when she needed him?

"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot-" he jutted out a hand, intending for her to actually shake it. "My name's Andy. And it's a pleasure to meet you. You know, I've heard a lot about you but I've never gotten your full name."

She swallowed nervously and scanned the bar again for Jax. "You can just call me Lily, thanks."

Andy took a few steps closer to her. "Well, why are you over there, sweetheart? Why don't you come closer...ditch Teller and come over to my table."

Instead, she just continued to move further away from him, backpedalling until she felt warm hands around her waist.

"Is there a problem here, Andy?" Jax's steely voice echoed from behind her and she turned her head to see him, grateful he'd finally somehow figured out he was needed. His eyes, however, were dead-locked on the man in front of them.

"Nah," Andy waved a hand at him. "I was just admiring your girl, Lily, here. Couldn't help myself."

"Yeah," Jax muttered with a sneer. "You just tried to move in on my girl is more like it. Now if I were you, I'd get the fuck out of here. _Now_."

Andy just shrugged in blatant defiance and stepped closer. "Whatta ya gonna do, Teller? I don't see any of your Samcro buddies around—besides, why should you get the monopoly on the rich pussy, huh? Give someone else a shot too."

With a low snarl, Jax side-stepped around Lily, easing her safely out of the way and pushed Andy angrily in the chest with both hands. Andy stumbled back, probably from shock more than anything, before making a move to retaliate. In a flash, Lily was between them, her hands outstretched to keep them apart, with her right firmly on Jax's chest to keep him in place.

"Lily," Jax's voice was deceivingly calm but his eyes were flashing with a dangerous glint she'd never seen before, even if it wasn't directed towards her. "Please move. Let me take care of this asshole."

"Who the hell are you callin' an asshole? I didn't do anything-"

"Guys, guys," Lily cut in, watching with frantic eyes as the bartender started heading over to them. The last thing she wanted was for her and Jax to get kicked out this bar. "There's no need to fight...especially over me..."

Jax made another move to step around her but she pushed her hand into his chest with more force this time. She turned back to Andy, who had since retreated a few steps but was still red-faced and pissed. A glance at the pool table and the long-forgotten quarters just sitting there gave her an idea.

"We don't mean any trouble," she started, still between them. "Listen, why don't we play a friendly round of pool, just to clear the air? I'll even buy drinks, alright? Let's just forget this ever happened."

Jax looked at her like she'd just sprouted a second head. "You're serious?"

She just shrugged and smiled at Andy. "We were talking about playing pool before so—doubles? I can't guarantee I'm any good but I'll try."

She looked expectantly from Jax to Andy to Jax again, whose eyes were still cloudy with fueled rage. Andy turned to talk to one of his buddies, who nodded his agreement to join the game.

Jax took that opportunity to lean down to her and whispered: "What are you doin', Lily?"

"Just go with it." She whispered back.

By the time Andy and his pool partner made their way over to the table, Lily already had the money pushed into the slot and was trying to stack the balls.

"Darlin'," Jax called out softly. "You're doin' it wrong—here," he started stacking them the right way. "I got it."

Andy and his friend chuckled as they picked out their cue sticks as she smiled sheepishly towards them. They leaned their cues against the table and waited, somewhat impatiently for Jax to fix the stack.

"Ladies first," Andy gestured with a wave of his hand.

Lily quickly shook her head. "Jax, maybe you should hit the balls first—I'm not very good at this part."

His eyebrows rose and he shook his head in slight disbelief. "Alright."

* * *

><p>Jax took the cue from her and shook his head. Overall, this just seemed like a bad idea. And at the end of the day, it wouldn't really solve the problem anyways. All this was going to do was make them both look bad, because Lily obviously wasn't exactly well-praticed in playing pool, and in the end, he was probably still going to end up pummeling that stupid motherfucker anyways. Just as long as he didn't end up in jail. That would be a not-so-great ending to their date and he definitely had other plans for how that needed to go. Still, he figured he needed to just go with it, like she said. So he leaned down, lined up his shot, and broke the stack, knocking in a striped ball in the process.<p>

He walked briskly over to the other side of the table to take his second shot as Lily waved over a waitress to get them some drinks. As he listened to her list out their drink orders, he just shook his head. Now, it was Andy's turn and he quickly hit a ball in but missed his second shot. Jax handed off the cue to Lily with a deep breath, feeling more than a little agitated by the whole thing. He watched with a low groan as she tried, mostly in vain, to figure out which ball to aim for.

"Jax," she murmured. "I don't think I have much of a shot. Any ideas?"

With a grim smile, he moved over to her side and surveyed the table. "Try for the 5 ball."

"The striped one?" She asked amidst chuckles from the opposing team.

"Yeah, Lily; we're stripes, remember?"

She nodded with a tiny smile and he winced as she lined up, pulled the cue back and completely missed the cue ball at her first attempt. She straightened up with an embarrassed expression, her face turning a little red, then she looked to him helplessly.

He rubbed his chin and leaned over the table, pointing to the edge of the ball she was aiming for. "Try to hit it right here—aim for that pocket."

She nodded with determination, and leaned way down, giving the three men across from her a clear view of her cleavage. Jax was too caught up in the curves of her breasts and too busy fantasizing what they would look like and would they would feel like when he finally hand them in his hands to notice that Andy and his partner were also staring blankly, their mouths hanging wide open. He realized that at the last moment and reached over to slap Andy in the back of his head. Lily didn't seem to notice any of this as she lined up again and actually hit it this time but the 5 ball just bounced off of the edge and somehow managed to knock in a solid ball instead.

"Hey, Teller—you sure you don't want to put down some money? This thing could get interesting..." Andy hollered with a hearty laugh.

Jax almost threw his beer bottle at the asshole. "Hey, man, you can't bet once the game's already started...you prick."

Andy just laughed but Lily shrugged.

"I don't mind, Jax." She looked up at him as she leaned against the cue. He swallowed tightly when he got a glimpse of the cleavage her standing position created, and, despite his better judgment, nodded in agreement. He dug into his back pocket for his wallet and threw down a fifty.

Andy threw down a hundred with a smug grin. "I raise you, _asshole."_

Jax froze for a second and narrowed his eyes. Then he started moving towards the motherfucker who was about to get his head beaten in until he felt Lily's hand on his arm, looking up at him with those wide, clear blue eyes.

"Come on, Jax," she said softly. "This is just for fun, right?"

"Right." He grunted. Then, with a deep, regrettful sigh, he dug into his wallet again and threw down another fifty. There'd better only be one game otherwise he was going to get cleaned out completely before the night was over.

The game continued on that way for the next fifteen minutes with Lily knocking in only one ball, Jax trying helplessly to pick up her slack and hold on to his money, and Andy and his partner laughing their heads off and high-fiveing the entire game, grateful for their good fortune. Lily just looked over to him and shrugged.

"Sorry, Jax," she shrugged again with a soft voice.

He put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Don't worry about it, darlin'."

"Wanna win your money back?"

He frowned, leaning his neck back to get a clearer look at her. "What?"

"Hey guys!" she called over to Andy and his pool partner—what the hell was his name again? "You wanna play again?"

Andy and his partner looked at one another and shrugged. "What the hell? Why not?"

Lily grinned widely and an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach. What was going on?

"How about double or nothing? What do you think?" She was asking with a calm, friendly smile. "Up the ante a little, you know? Is that alright with you, Jax?"

He frowned again but when she nudged him with her elbow, he dug for his wallet again with a sigh and threw down two hundreds. Andy followed suit—throwing down two fiftys—but when Jax sent him a hard glare of steel, he quickly threw down the other fiftys in his hand.

Lily promptly walked over to the money and quickly counted it, folded it, and tucked it into her shirt—more like her bra, he realized with a grin.

"For safe keeping." She explained good-naturedly when Andy's partner shot her a questioning look. "Ladies first, right?"

"Yeah," Andy replied slowly as if he was trying to wrap his head around what was happening.

She smiled. "Good."

She quickly stacked the balls—the right way—and then leaned down, lining up the cue expertly with the cue ball, then reeled back to strike the ball directly in the middle in one swift, powerful stroke. She grinned smugly over to Andy, whose mouth was hanging open in shock.

"Your turn." She said simply, leaning against the cue stick as she spoke.

Andy gingerly grabbed the cue, lined up and took his shot and missing, probably too busy reeling from the kick he'd just received in the gut. Jax watched eagerly, rushing through his own turn even, until it was finally Lily's turn again. He watched, unable to believe his eyes, as Lily took the cue from him, quickly scanned the table for a shot, lined up, and knocked the cue ball into the table's edge, curving it sharply to the side and knocking the 3 ball into the adjacent pocket with expert precision.

"Fuck me." Andy muttered under his breath as Lily lined up her next shot, knocking that ball into a nearby pocket too. Then again. And then again.

By the time the game was over, Lily had completely cleaned up the table in under five minutes and without much help from him. He couldn't help himself—he just grabbed her, pulled her in his arms, and kissed her right on the lips. It felt fucking good to kiss her, especially in front of those assholes. And when he felt her arms wrap around his neck, he smiled as he kissed her again.

"Nice work, babe—that was fuckin' amazing!"

"So,what, I'm 'babe' now?" She laughed.

"Right, right...darlin'..."

She laughed again and he found himself touching her face at the sound.

"Fuck!" Andy was shouting from the other side of the table. "You fuckin' hustled us!"

Lily just laughed, digging the wad of money out of her bra and waving it at him. "Maybe next time you'll think twice before calling a girl 'rich pussy', huh?"

Jax burst out laughing and threw an arm around her shoulders as they made a beeline for the door—Lily had to run back to grab her clutch—and he pushed open the doors to let them out into the night. He was still laughing as he reached for her hand and pulled her to him again.

"You planned that whole thing, huh?"

She just shrugged and stood up on her toes to kiss him softly. "I saw that in a movie once and I've always wanted to do it."

She handed him their winnings with a wad of cash with a wide, triumphant grin. "Told ya I'd get your money back."

He glanced at the money and shook his head. "That's yours, babe; you fuckin' earned it tonight."

She shrugged, counting out two hundred dollars and stuffing his share of the money into his front pocket with a sly smirk before tucking her money safely into her clutch.

He laughed again as he pushed a strand of hair away from her face and then rested his fingers gently against her cheek. Her eyes were shining up at him and he lowered his head to capture her lips again. He devoured her mouth hungrily, pushing her back until her legs brushed his bike, then lifted her hips to set her on top of the seat, quickly moving in between her legs to get closer to her. Her arms wrapped around his neck to bring him in deeper, sliding her tongue in and out of his mouth. He groaned into her mouth, his hands trailing down her hips, until he gripped the material of her skirt, pushing it up so she could open her legs a little bit wider for him.

Without warning, she pulled away and panted breathlessly against his cheek. "Let's go back to my hotel."

He pulled his head back to look in her eyes and nodded with a grin. "You got it, darlin'."

* * *

><p>When they got back to her hotel, she was practically shaking with anticipation. Everything that had transpired that night had finally led to this. Feeling a little jittery, she waited impatiently as he shut off the engine and parked his bike. She still waited as he hopped off the seat and then practically lifted her off of his bike, cupping her ass playfully in the process. When he set her down, she kicked off her heels, grabbed them with one hand and threw the other around his neck. His lips found hers again and in a matter of seconds, he was walking her towards the door. When her back slammed into the door, he let go of her just for a moment, so she could dug through her clutch for the key. And even as she fumbled with the lock, he brushed all her hair to one side so he could suck lightly on her neck.<p>

She closed her eyes and completely forgot what she was supposed to be doing as her head fell back against his forehead.

"The door, Lily," he murmured softly against her skin.

The warm hush of his breath made her shiver and he reacted almost instantenously, rubbing her shoulders soothingly. A few seconds later, she finally got the door open and she turned around so she could press completely up against him. He kicked the door shut and pushed her deeper into the room as she threw her clutch and her heels haphazardly to the floor. She pushed his cut off his shoulders and gingerly reached down until she felt the edges of his shirt. As she closed her eyes, she gripped the edges and pulled it quickly over his head, throwing it by her shoes. When she opened her eyes again, her breath caught in her throat and she couldn't stop herself from lightly tracing the finely tuned lines and curves of his arms and chest.

He flinched a little at her soft touch and let her explore with his eyes closed. Then he reached for her neck again to pull her to him, catching her lips in an almost desperate need to taste her. His hands curved around her hips until he found the zipper on her skirt and pulled it down to her ankles; she held onto him as she stepped out of the skirt, their lips never losing contact and in a flash, the tank top was over her head and she was standing in front of him in just a lacy pink bra and matching underwear.

A rough, calloused hand scaled down from her neck, over a shoulder, down to the curve of her cleavage and around her waist, unclipping the bra clasp in one swift motion. Then both hands were covering her breasts and he started to massage them gently as he knelt down until his head was directly in front of them, wrapping his arms around her waist as he rested his head against her stomach.

He started kissing her stomach as he stood so he could propel her closer to the bed; her hands traveled down his taut, rippled abdomen until she found his belt buckle, quickly undoing both the button and the zipper. He kicked his jeans off and she pulled his boxers down the first chance she had, making him groan loudly into her mouth as she took his pulsing cock in her soft hand.

"Jesus Christ," he groaned again and gripped her ass to pull her onto the bed.

He laid her back on to the pillows as he leaned down to run a trail of feather-light kisses from her collar bone, to her stomach, to the inside of her thighs and finally to the top edge of her underwear, running his tongue along the side and making her gasp in anticipation. As he pulled the material down, he kept kissing each new area of skin that was exposed to him until he finally found her clit and sucked on it until she gasped out loud. As his tongue began to flick it back and forth, her breathing grew heavier and heavier and her head fell back against the pillow as her hands gripped the sheets to keep herself from screaming. She could feel herself beginning to let go...and pulled herself back from the edge. Not yet. She couldn't come yet...it just felt so fucking good; it had to last longer. She reached down until she felt his hair to pull him up to her. She could see the dark, hungry look in his eyes and reached down until she gripped his cock again, but this time she began stroking it up and down to return the favor. His eyes squeezed shut and groaned again as her hands made quick work around him.

In a flash, he lunged over the side of the bed to fumble around in his jeans, ripping a condom wrapper open with his teeth and sliding it down on him in less than ten seconds. Then he was hovering over her and nudged himself in between her legs. He kissed her deeply and her head was beginning to spin. This wait was making her crazy; she was practically trembling as he leaned over her and brushed the hair out of her face.

"Jax..." she pleaded breathlessly. He kissed her again and pushed himself into her, making her gasp in a mix of relief, pleasure and a little bit of pain. Catching the pain in her voice almost immediately, he froze and broke away from her lips to look in her eyes.

"You alright, darlin'?" he asked softly, concern shining in his eyes in the moonlight.

She nodded quickly. "I'm fine...it's just...been a little while. Just give me a second."

He nodded, bending down to suck softly on her neck, helping her relax and get her ready for him. She ran her hands up his arms until they were tangled in his hair and pulled him down closer to her, to draw him in deeper. He took that as his signal and began moving inside her, slowly at first, and then picking up speed until he gripped her hips to pull himself in deeper with a deep groan. She gasped at the sudden motion and pushed upward with her hips to meet him halfway. As the pace picked up, so did her panting until she was gasping loudly, pulling lightly on his hair with each thrust of his hips. His tongue was sliding in and out of her mouth, down her neck, and then around her lips as they continued to move, his hands still viced tightly around her hips, bringing her up to meet him as he slammed roughly into her.

Everything started to get hazy as she could feel herself getting closer and closer to letting go. She had to move a hand down to his back to help her hold on as he kept moving and moving, faster and faster. When it started, she pushed her head back into the pillow and cried out at the explosive release; her whole body seemed to convulse against him as her orgasm rocked through her and then, in a brief moment of awareness, she felt him shudder against her skin and he let out a low, gutteral groan as his body went rigid and she could've sworn she heard him completely stop breathing.

They stayed like that for a moment, each trying to get a hold back on their breathing and she was beginning to regain her focus as she came back down. He pressed his forehead against hers and a few drops of sweat dripped onto her cheeks.

He pulled himself out of her and grinned lazily before leaning back down to kiss her softly on the lips, then on the forehead. With a deep, relaxed exhale, he pushed himself back on his knees and hopped her and off the bed to head into the bathroom. Despite the hazy darkness, a large, almost sinister-looking tattoo on his back was visible—the Sons of Anarchy emblem shot out at her with it's black script and a menacing dark reaper—and she swallowed hard. She knew this was just one more thing that should be unsettling to her, that should make her nervous but it didn't. In light of what they'd just done, it actually kind of hot. She leaned up on her elbow to watch him with a small, satisfied smile as he quickly tossed the condom in the trash and rubbed his face with a nearby towel. When he appeared in the doorway of the bathroom, he grinned at her as he rested his hands on the edges of the doorway, completely stark naked in front of her.

When he started walking back towards the bed, she wondered for a brief moment if this was the part where he put his clothes back on, thanked her for the good time, kissed her goodbye, and then left. She bit her lip in anticipation, mentally preparing herself for the obvious inevitable. When he reached the other side of the bed, where his clothes were strewn on the floor, she inhaled sharply, just waiting for it. Instead, he reached down to pull the long-forgotten comforter up the bed and around her body to cover her. Then he sat down and pulled his boxers back on before throwing his legs back on the bed and under the comforter.

She was so happy she thought she might cry. So he wasn't going to leave her in the middle of the night after all. He was going to stay. And as he reached over to put his arm around her, she turned over until her head was resting comfortably on his chest. He gently kissed her forehead and then her eyes closed, falling into the first peaceful and deep sleep she'd had in a very long time.

* * *

><p>The loud buzzing of his cell phone made him groan in annoyance. When his eyes flickered open, he . remembered where he was and who was next to him. With a smile, his tired eyes took in the sight of the gorgeous woman resting peacefully underneath his arm and he nestled in closer to her, wrapping his arm tighter around her soft, naked skin. She smelled so damn good. And her body was fucking rocking—he resisted the urge to let his hands explore again. She was sleeping, he told himself, and there would definitely be time for that in the morning.<p>

His phone buzzed again and he rolled onto his back with a sigh, somehow manuevering his arm down the side of his bed and into his jeans pocket as he searched for his phone. Three missed calls from Ope. Fuck. Time to go back to the real fucking world. He pressed Opie's number on speed dial and waited for him to pick up.

"Jax?" Opie's voice came over the phone. "Where the hell are you?"

"What's wrong, bro?" He whispered into the phone as softly as possible, sitting up as he spoke. He cast a quick glance over to Lily, who had since rolled around and was staring up at him with tired, droopy eyes. He smiled reassuringly down at her and then her eyes closed again.

"There's a problem with the warehouse. You gotta get down here."

"Now?" Jax asked with a grimace.

"Yeah," Opie replied impatiently. "Get here as soon as you can and I'll explain everything."

He snapped the phone shut and ran a hand through his tangled hair with a sigh. Fuck. Something had gone wrong. Just like he knew it would. He rubbed his face and blew out a deep breath as he pulled his clothes back on. The absolute last fucking thing he wanted to do right now was clean up a job that was supposed to be a done deal. All he wanted to do was pull his shirt off and crawl back into bed with Lily.

When he was ready to go, he leaned down to her and kissed her gently on the lips.

"I gotta go, darlin'. I'll be back, though, I promise." He whispered against her cheek.

"Is everything alright?"

He nodded and smoothed back her hair. "Don't worry about it; everything's fine. Just something I gotta go take care of. Then I'm coming back to bed."

"Promise?" She murmured sleepily.

He grinned down at her groggy expression and kissed her again.

"Promise, babe."

* * *

><p><strong>AN-**So that was their date...hope you liked it! That was my first real attempt at something a little more 'hardcore' and I hope it was alright (and not cheesy or a little too much).

I know Salazar is the head of his own club on the show but it was just easier to have him already integrated in with the Mayans, just for story purposes. Hopefully it didn't confuse anyone. Next chapter will explain what exactly went wrong with the warehouse deal (let me know if that needs anymore clarification too) and then the aftermath of both the fallout from the deal and Jax and Lily's night together. Word gets around fast in a small town, right?

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and/or put me on your story alerts. I really appreciate the feedback! As always, please r/r! It keeps me going!


	5. Fcking Wikipedia

AN EDUCATION

Chapter Five

Jax pulled up to the side of the warehouse and blew out a deep, frustrated breath as he snapped his helmet off. This was not what he had had planned for the rest of his night. Was it too much to fucking ask to have one night of amazing sex with an equally amazing girl and then get to spend the rest of the night with her without any interference from anything or anyone else? Shit...he shook his head at those thoughts. If he'd said that out loud, his brothers would probably try to castrate him. And he might have to let them too. Besides, he figured Opie would've never called him if this was just a small thing, especially since he knew he was seeing Lily that night.

Beams from a flashlight caught his attention and he immediately hopped off his bike. A few long strides brought him around the corner and he skidded to a complete stop.

"What the fuck?" he bit out hoarsely.

Less than ten feet away from him, five hooded and well-covered Mayans were sweating their asses off as they hauled crate after crate into two vans tucked away into the shadows. Juice and Tig were resting against their bikes with pissed-off and frustrated expressions and Opie was swiftly approaching him with dark, annoyed eyes—it wasn't difficult to figure out what exactly had gone wrong.

"Jax," Opie called out softly as he got closer.

"Let me guess—you showed up here at midnight like you were supposed to and our Mayan friends here didn't have their end of the deal taken care of yet."

"Right on the money, bro." Opie nodded as he gestured towards one of the hooded Mayans working to their right. "I know you had shit goin' on tonight, Jax, but I figured you'd want to have a chat with our friend Hector over there."

Jax nodded, clenching his fists when he found the guy Opie was pointing out. Yeah, he and Hector needed to have a talk. Knock some sense into the asshole—figuratively and maybe literally too if he was lucky. This was gonna be fun.

"Yo Hector!" Jax called out to the dark figures by the vans. Salazar glanced over to them when he heard his name and rubbed his face in an almost pathetic desperation, then he started slowly ambling over to them, like a dog with its tail between its legs.

"You wanna explain to me what the hell happened here?" Jax spat out, glaring at the poor excuse for a 'lieutenant' in front of him.

"We just, uh, we underestimated how long it would take to clear out our stock and-" He started with a shaky gulp.

Jax folded his arms in front of him and cocked an eyebrow. "Underestimated? When the fuck did you show up?"

Salazar glanced down at the dirt by his feet and cleared his throat. "Eleven."

Opie just shook his head with a deep exhale but Jax took a step forward with an aggressive sneer.

"You underestimated?" He barked out a mirthless laugh and shook his head with an amused smirk. "Underestimated...that's a new one, man, I have to tell you—and it's a fucking pile of shit excuse for not doing your job."

"Back off, ese," Salazar shot back with a hard glare. "We only need another half an hour and then your dogs can blow this place."

Jax narrowed his eyes and Opie took a step forward at his words. "Did you just call us 'dogs'? Bro, I don't think you realize who you're talkin' to..."

Salazar stood his ground and kept his eyes focused steadily on Jax with a hard edge that unnerved him. "I know exactly who I'm talkin' to—and you don't scare me, VP."

Jax's eyebrows rose and grinned widely, striding closer to Salazar until he was toe to toe with him. "I'm not tryin' to scare you, bro—I'm just tryin' to help you do your job."

"I don't need your help."

"Oh I think you do...you somehow managed to fuck up a gravy deal that even my most shit-for-brains prospect could take care of in his sleep. Underestimated my ass—this was just a plain old fuck-up."

Even in the dark, the red rage in Salazar's face was clear. "My boys and me'll finish the job and then your boys can do yours-"

"The job should already be done by now—that's the point, asshole." Opie cut in roughly.

Salazar held up a hand and shook his head. "You made your point; it was a mistake and it won't happen again, now," he glared at Jax as he spoke. "Get the hell out of my way so I can help my boys finish this job."

Jax didn't move from his spot and matched Salazar's dead-locked glare. "Good-this shit better not happen again otherwise you and I are gonna have some serious problems, bro. And if you ever refer to any member of Samcro as a 'dog' again—I'll beat your fuckin' brains in."

"Is that a threat, _bro_?" Salazar spit back.

Jax's mouth curved into a vicious smile and he took a step closer so that they were almost nose to nose. "Yeah—oh, and Hector? Just so you know, I'll be givin' your Prez a performance report first thing tomorrow morning."

"You can't do that...you don't have the pull-"

Jax just tapped the front of his cut with a cocky grin. "Sure I do—VP, remember? You're the one who needs to remember his rank in the grand scheme of things here, not me."

Salazar stared him down for another silent moment until turning on his heel and stalking back to the vans to help his men load up the rest of the crates.

"That was some tense shit, Jax." Opie muttered to him under his breath.

Jax just shrugged. "Shithead should be scared."

"That's not gonna make this go any smoother." Opie reasoned warily.

"Yeah, well, the jerk-off needs a good beatin' and someday, I'm gonna enjoy givin' it to him."

Opie shook his head as he lit a cigarette, passing one to Jax too, who lit it hungrily.

"I still don't understand how this happened—we're gonna have to bring this to Clay too. What do you think he's gonna do? You think he's gonna call the whole thing off, Jax?"

"He won't if we blow this warehouse tonight."

"This is the best thing for the club right now Jax and I don't trust Salazar any more than you do but I can say that I trust Alveraz and he's the one callin' all the shots, anyways. Salazar is just an errand boy with a meaningless title."

"He doesn't seem to think it's meaningless." Jax pointed out tiredly.

"Maybe, but it's still meaningless. The guy's got no pull and everyone knows it but him."

"That's a recipe I don't trust, Ope—guys like that are fuckin' dangerous."

"And I agree—but let Alveraz deal with it. It's not our problem and we don't really need to be pissin' the Mayans off right now either."

Jax shook his head as he took a drag from his cigarette, casting a wary glance over to the vans and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "Yeah, I guess. Fuck, I'm tired—how much longer do you need me to stick around?"

Opie cocked an eyebrow at him and folded his arms across his chest. "Gotta be somewhere, bro?"

He just shrugged with a grin. "So what if I do?"

"Ah...things went well with Lily, then?" Opie replied with a knowing smirk.

"You could say that."

"Nice—good for you, bro. I like her...she seems like she's got her head on straight."

Jax shrugged again. "She's only gonna be town a little while longer."

"Right but you're havin' a good time with her, right?"

Jax swallowed tightly and nodded. He wasn't sure he liked where this talk was going. "Yeah."

"And I'm assuming she's havin' a good time with you...so, maybe she'll decide to stay in town for awhile. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

"I think you're puttin' the cart before the horse, bro. She's only been in town—what-three days, maybe four?"

"Well, what if she did?" Opie suggested with a hand in the air as he spoke.

"Well, she won't. So it doesn't really matter now, does it?"

"Whatever you say, bro—look, now that we have all this other shit cleared up, you can probably head out. Go back to doin' whatever it was you were doin'." Opie clapped him on the shoulder as he spoke and gestured to the barely visible road.

"You sure, bro? I can stay until those idiots get out of here."

Opie shook his head. "Nah. We got it. See you at church tomorrow, bro."

"A'ight. Let me know if you need me."

Opie just waved him off as he turned and headed back to his bike. He would've stayed if they'd needed him but he was just as relieved to be getting the hell out of there. All this shit...now more than ever made him just want to collapse back into bed. He needed to sleep and he knew exactly who he wanted to be sleeping next to. Opie was an asshole for putting those thoughts into his head...his mind drifted back to Tig's words the day she'd shown up on TM's door: "_girls like that don't stay in towns like ours for long_." Tig was right; Ope wasn't. It was as simple as that and he'd known it the minute he'd first laid eyes on her. There was no use in getting his hopes up...and it wasn't like he was exactly in a position where he'd be able to give her anything more than sex and a good time at this point. That was all she seemed to want anyways so why mess with a good thing? Why push it into being something it wasn't, something they didn't want, only for her to be disappointed in the end when she realized that life in LA was a hell of a lot better than life in Charming?

With that in mind, he revved his bike and peeled out onto the road to head back to Lily's hotel.

* * *

><p>Lily rolled over and glanced at the clock again, a sinking feeling welling up in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't sure exactly what was making her restless—Jax's obvious agitation from that phone call or the fact that he wasn't back yet. He'd told her he would be back...but he was under no obligation to actually come back. And if he didn't, if whatever had called him away needed his attention for the rest of the night and he never came back, he wasn't doing anything wrong...why did that bother her so much? She didn't need him in her bed at that moment but she wanted him there.<p>

Her phone beeped on the nightstand and she tore it off the charger. A text from Jax to tell her he was on his way back. She blew out a breath of relief and threw the covers off of her, pulled a long t-shirt on, and then shuffled sleepily to the bathroom. Jax's late-night call and then speedy escape had set her completely on edge and had made getting back to sleep near impossible. Maybe when he was back she'd actually be able to get some more rest.

Once the bathroom light was on, she gazed hazily at her reflection with a small smile. Her hair was tousled and tangled...sex hair, she thought with a grin. But her face was another story altogether...mascara and eyeliner was smeared under her eyes and some of her lip gloss had rubbed onto her upper lip...definitely not attractive.

She quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, feeling immediately better and reaching for a towel, her eyes fell on the trash can, and, more specifically, the used condom inside it. Chewing on her lip, she sat down on the toilet and pulled her knees up under her chin. Flashes of what had transpired only a few hours before sprang across her mind—she could still feel his hands on her skin, his naked body pressed against her, the feel of his warm tongue, his body between her legs...she shivered at the thought. Part of her wanted to feel guilty; after all, she'd known him all of...what...three days before she'd slept with him. And he was still technically married. Didn't that make her a slut or something? She'd programmed herself to feel guilty...and there was plenty in this situation to feel guilt and regret about. But the other part of her knew she didn't have to explain herself because for the first time since her mother's death, she felt in control of something. She'd made a decision and she'd went with it. And she didn't really feel like she'd done anything slutty either. No regrets. No guilt necessary.

A knock on the door sent her out of the bathroom and towards the door. She pulled it open to see Jax rubbing a hand over his tired face. Then their eyes met and he smiled lazily at her.

"Hey, Lily," he said softly. "Is it alright if I come back to bed with you?"

His eyes seemed to pierce right through her and his expression was a mix of exhaustion, frustration, and a little bit of helplessness that made her move out of the way so he could come inside. She padded lightly after him as he tossed his shirt to the ground and stripped down to his boxers and just as she was about to crawl back onto the bed, a calloused hand shot out to pull her closer to him. She rested her hands gently on the tops of his shoulders and closed her eyes as he leaned his forehead against hers. His hands came around her face and he kissed her lightly on the lips before leaning his head back to get a better look at her.

"Did you miss me?" She whispered against his cheek.

He chuckled softly and nodded. Then, with a small smile, she led him back to bed and after he pulled the covers over them, she drifted off into an easy sleep with his arm draped lazily around her waist.

Around 10 that morning, she rolled over with a relaxed sigh, feeling more rested than she'd had in months, maybe even years. It was the first she'd been able to actually rest and settle in to sleep. She glanced at the empty space next to her—Jax had left about an hour earlier with a long kiss goodbye and a promise to see her later—and she found herself nestling over to where he'd been and curling up into his pillow. Then, with another exhale, she pried herself out of bed and headed over to the shower. She'd already gotten dressed and was trying to force a brush through her tangled hair when a light rap came from the door.

Frowning, she padded quickly to the door—it couldn't be Jax; he'd call or text before coming over; and she wasn't aware that anything else really knew where she was staying, let alone which room she was in. She groped for her phone and, for a fleeting moment, considered sending a panicked text to Jax but then she put an eye to the peephole.

A tall man clad in a tan uniform, a buzzcut, and a gun peaking out of a holster stood in front of her door and when she squinted, she thought she caught a glimpse of a badge. Obviously a cop. Great.

With a heavy sigh, she propped open the door, knowing that he could only be here, at her door, for one reason. Or rather—one person.

"Miss Campbell?" The cop asked quietly but there was a firmness behind his voice that said he was serious.

"Yeah?"

"Hello, Miss Campbell, my name is Sheriff Deputy David Hale—I just have some questions for you, if that's alright."

She stepped out onto the walkway when he stood and quickly closed the door behind her. "Can I see some credentials first?"

A brief wave of surprise mixed with some shock crossed his hard features but as soon as it had come, it passed and he quickly nodded as he unclipped his badge and identification to hold out to her.

Satisfied now, she nodded and stepped back. "What can I help you with, officer?"

"Can you verify Jackson Teller's whereabouts last night?"

She frowned again. "I don't understand...what do you mean?"

Deputy Hale sighed and rubbed his chin. "I'm not sure what you've heard but there was an explosion last night over on Route 54."

Her heart stopped for a moment as everything snapped into place. Samcro was clearly involved otherwise an officer wouldn't be at her doorstep. Something had gone wrong. That's why Jax had been so agitated from that phone call in the middle of the night. And that's why he'd left.

"And you think Jax is somehow involved?"

Deputy Hale nodded curtly as if this was already common knowledge. "Can you verify his whereabouts, miss?"

"Why would you think I'd know that?"

He sighed and looked down at the ground for a moment before glancing back at her. "Several witnesses saw you and Jax Teller at Journey's last night and said you left together."

"Oh."

Wow. Word really got around fast in a small town. Either that or the cops had eyes and ears everywhere around here...maybe just when it came to anything involving Samcro. Well, she was already very aware of how some of Charming's residents looked at her and most likely spoke about her so it didn't seem out of the realm of possibility that people who'd been at the bar would gossip. It was funny...their date last night and everything that followed had made her almost forget all that and Jax's involvement in illegal dealings.

"He was with me all night."

Deputy Hale blinked in surprise at her pointed, firm response. "What time did you get to your room?"

"A little after 10."

"You're sure he never left?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, he was here all night—he left about an hour ago actually."

Hale nodded slowly and jotted something down in the small notebook in his left hand. "Alright—thank you for your time. Here's my card if you think of anything I should know."

She gingerly took the card from him and bit her lip. She watched, feeling a little helpless because she just wanted him to go already, as he turned on his heel to head back to his squad car and then turned back to face her.

"I know it isn't any of my business, Miss Campbell, but I feel I should warn you that Jax Teller isn't a very good, uh, friend to have. Him and his friends, miss, they're dangerous and getting too close to them could get you hurt. Trust me, even if you aren't planning on being in town much longer, Jax Teller is more trouble than he's worth."

She froze for a moment as his words sunk in; he shot her one final uneasy smile with a nod before walking back over to his squad car. With her heart pounding wildly in her chest, she bit her lip and shut the door behind her.

* * *

><p>Jax threw a greasy towel haphazardly behind him and reached for a wrench from his toolbox. No matter what he did, he just couldn't get this part to fit where he needed it to—he almost threw the wrench in frustration when he caught his mother's eyes from across the shop. Her eyebrows rose, like she could read his mind and her head tilted to the side as she surveyed him. As far as he knew, she wasn't yet aware of where he'd been the night before but he figured it was only a matter of time before she found out. Her reaction to that was anyone's guess—the woman seemed fuckin' bipolar sometimes—and he didn't necessarily want to be anywhere near her reach when she did. He could already hear it now: "Jackson...when are you going to realize that this girl is just slummin' it here and using you—I don't want to see you hurt again..." and blah blah blah. Still, he couldn't quite put his finger on why she'd seemed so excited when she'd told him to look out for Lily at Fun Town. She'd reminded him a little of a kid at Christmas and something about that just didn't sit right. Gemma was definitely up to something and that was never usually a good thing.<p>

His attention shifted back to his mother when he followed her gaze out to the parking lot where Hale had already parked his squad car.

"Fuck."

He threw down the wrench and wiped his hands on a clean towel as his mother quickly appeared at his side.

"You think this is about last night?" She muttered to him under her breath.

"Can't be anythin' else. It was only a matter of time anyways...no witnesses, no evidence...no big deal, Ma."

She nodded quickly, appeased by his reassurances. "Right."

He kissed her lightly on the cheek before turning to meet Hale with Opie, who was already half-way there.

"Morning Jax, Opie," Hale nodded to them as he pulled his sunglasses off. "Just the guys I was looking for."

"Well, we live to serve you." Jax retorted with a cocky laugh.

Hale's expression darkened. "Let's just cut to the chase, shall we? I think all three of us are aware of the explosion on Route 54 last night. My sources tell me that particular warehouse was owned and operated by the Mayans so, naturally, Samcro comes up as a natural suspect."

"Naturally." Opie added with a shrug.

Hale just chose to ignore that. "I'm not here to make any arrests; I'm just here to let you know I'm investigating your potential involvement—your alibies have already vouched for you, like I knew they would—I've learned through experience to go to Samcro's women first about matters like these...helps me gauge what's really going on. I have to say, Opie, you've trained Lyla well but the real surprise this morning was Lily Campbell—you know her pretty well now, right Jax?"

Jax frowned, feeling his heart rate pick up. "What are you talkin' about?"

Hale just shrugged. "The girl was clearly no stranger to being questioned by the police—even asked to see my badge and everything—and she told me you were with her all night and never left."

Jax couldn't stop his eyebrows from raising at Hale's words but he did his best to seem as unemotional—and unsurprised—as possible. "Well, that's what happened so...I'm not sure what you're still doin' here, officer."

Hale snorted out a laugh and shook his head. "Don't you think you should feel a little ashamed of yourself, Jax? The girl's in town for three days and already she's covering for you?"

"I don't know what you're talkin' about, man." He rolled back on his heels as he spoke and glanced at Opie, who had an equally confused expression etched on his face.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Jax, and you know, if I were you, I'd do a little reading up on your girl—I did and I was very surprised at what I found." He smiled insincerely as he spoke, backpedalling to his squad car. "Have a nice day, boys. I'll be seeing you."

They waited until Hale was safely out of sight and then Opie turned to him, a grim line etched onto his face. "What the hell was that all about?"

Jax shook his head. "I have no fuckin' idea."

"We better find Juice," Opie was saying now through the haze. "Figure out what's goin' on before somethin' else happens."

Jax nodded, unable to shake the numb, uneasy sinking feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. He almost felt like Hale had just punched him in the gut...he'd never really thought about where she'd come from and what kind of people she might have known or been involved with. Maybe he should've looked into that a little more.

It didn't take Juice long to dig up some intel on her either and when he swiveled around in his chair to where he and Opie sat, Jax thought he might explode just from waiting and chewed nervously on his lip.

"So..." he barked out, a little too harshly. He couldn't help it...the suspense was literally killing him.

"Well," Juice started somewhat shakily. "She doesn't really have a record herself—just a couple speeding tickets—but that's it. Her dad, though, that's a different story."

Jax frowned and leaned forward, catching Opie's equally distressed eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Her dad's Martin Campbell-"

"The real estate tycoon?" Jax asked increduously, his mind flicking to bits and pieces of news he remembered hearing about this guy.

Juice nodded with a grim smile. "Yeah—the feds have been tryin' to get him for years...money laundering, tax fraud, investment fraud...you name it, he's been charged for it. He went to trial four separate times and each time, Lily was brought in as a witness—what she knew about his dealings, where he was during specific times, and she's on record of being questioned by the police at least thriteen different times, ten about her dad and three about her fiance—name's Will Miles."

"What about him?" Jax asked quickly.

Juice shrugged. "He works for her dad—probably handles the dirty details, you know? It looks like each time Lily was questioned about him, the cops wanted to know where he was, what business he was taking care of—the most recent time was six months ago."

"Shit." Opie muttered under his breath. "Hale was right—she's no stranger to dealing with the cops."

Jax swallowed tightly. "Anything else we should know?"

"Well," Juice started. "I guess it depends on how deep you want me to dig, Jax—I can keep lookin' and see if anything else pops up."

Jax started nodding before he was even finished speaking. "Absolutely, bro."

Juice swiveled back around in his chair and went back to work as Opie and Jax exchanged an uneasy glance. Jax clapped Juice on the shoulder to thank him and met Opie at the doorway as they headed out towards the clubhouse's bar to grab a beer.

"So..." Opie started slowly after taking a long pull from his beer. "I don't think we need to bring this to Clay, man...I mean, she's not a threat—her dad's obviously got some sway but that doesn't mean shit for the club."

Jax nodded and blew out a deep breath. "Right."

"You alright, brother?"

"Yeah, yeah...that just wasn't what I was expecting, you know?"

Opie nodded. "I know what you mean—I was just waiting for Juice to give us some long drawn-out story about her dad being a mob boss or something."

Jax chuckled, unable to hide his uneasiness with this whole thing. He was relieved, beyond his comprehension, that Lily herself didn't have any connections to anything that would potentially be dangerous to the club. If she did...he'd have to cut their time even shorter, whether he wanted to or not. But now, given what Lily had told him about her dad, it was no wonder why she'd needed to get the hell out of there.

"Jax?" Opie was saying now. "You here, bro?"

"Yeah, yeah," Jax blew out another breath. "I was just thinkin'...Lily never mentioned who her dad was...but did not have great things to say about him. I can't imagine havin' a dad like that...he just seems like a massive dickhead, you know?"

"What did she say?"

He shrugged. "Just that he never really her do anything she wanted—tried to control everything."

"What about her fiance? Or ex-fiance, I guess now, right?"

Jax clenched his jaw at the mention of the guy he was just itching to beat the shit out of. "Just that he'd only hit her once."

"You think he's gonna be showin' up here anytime soon?"

Jax laughed mirthlessly as he took another pull from his beer. "You know...part of me is practically begging for it...but she'll probably be long gone before he figures out she was ever here."

Opie nodded with sad eyes, as if he could already see the resignation in Jax's face. "You should probably call her, bro—she's gonna have questions about why Hale was there."

"Right," Jax sighed again. Lily wasn't stupid and odds were, as soon as she got wind of the fact that he was more than just a mechanic, well, he'd be lucky if he saw her again before she blew out of Charming. Maybe that was for the best anyways.

* * *

><p>Lily pulled open her door and could immediately feel the change in him. Gone was the playful, mischievous lop-sided smirk and the sparkling look in his eyes. Instead, she was met with sober and sad eyes. Even the way he walked into the room, as if to keep as much distance between the two of them as possible, sent the warning bells ringing through her mind. His hand never even attempted to graze her hips and she shivered at the cold space between them.<p>

"What's wrong, Jax?" She figured she might as well get right to it. Why suffer anymore than she needed to, especially when she had no idea what she'd done wrong.

He kept moving past her and she wondered fleetingly if he'd even heard her. When he was sitting across from her on the bed, he blew out a deep breath and rubbed his hands against his thighs. When he finally looked up at her, she almost stumbled backwards from the sheer force of his eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked again and bit her lip in annoyance at the sound of her own voice. She sounded a little helpless, a little desperate and she didn't like that.

When he still didn't respond, she exhaled angrily and set her hands defiantly on her hip.

"You know a cop came to see me this morning, right? Who am I kidding—of course you know." She couldn't hide the frustration in her voice but she couldn't handle his silence or the look in his eyes anymore.

He rubbed his chin anxiously and nodded. "Hale stopped by TM a little while ago—said you'd told him I was here all night."

"Right."

"Why did you tell him that?" He asked hoarsely.

She just shrugged. "I didn't want you to get in trouble."

His eyes narrowed a little and she felt her legs almost give out on her.

"Why didn't you tell me your dad was Martin Campbell?" He finally said, with eyes blazing.

She frowned at this new revelation and sat down on the dresser across from him. What did her dad have to do with anything? How the fuck did he know who her father was? And why did she feel like she was about to interrogated for something she didn't do?

"What difference does it make?" She replied finally, feeling proud at the defiant tone in her voice now.

He blew out a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair. "You said you didn't want me to get in trouble...why would you think that?"

She shrugged, already on edge at his tone and this new line of questioning that she didn't give a shit anymore. She gestured towards his cut with a pointed glare. "I'm not stupid, Jax."

His brow creased and he glanced down at his cut then back up at her with wide eyes. She didn't even wait for him to ask her the question.

"The secretary at the school district said something about Samcro on a Taste of Charming poster in the office. So I googled you."

His eyebrows shot up. "You googled me?"

She nodded with a shrug. "Yeah...did you know Samcro has it's own Wikipedia page?"

He just stared at her with wide, confused eyes. "So...that's it—you googled me and found out-"

"It doesn't matter what I found out, Jax." She crossed her arms around her chest and dared him to walk away. If he was going to, he might as well do it now.

"Bullshit it does—you know I've been to prison?"

She nodded and he ran a hand over his face.

"You know we run guns?"

She nodded and he rubbed his hands on his thighs again.

"So now what?" His eyes were on her again and her heart almost stopped completely when she realized that he was putting the ball in her court now. If he got up and walked away from her, it would be because she told him to. So how did she feel? Did she want him to stay or go?

"You could've just asked me, Jax."

His eyes shot up to meet hers and he frowned. "What do you mean?"

"About my dad—you could've just asked me. I would've told you anything you wanted to know."

He bit his lip and rubbed his forehead. "I know...I know. What do you want me to say here?"

When had this suddenly become so real? When had they gone from blissfully ignorant and high on living in the moment to a sobered and angry couple? They weren't a couple...but they were still something. Then why did any of this matter?

She just shook her head and leaned her head back until she found the wall behind her. "I didn't tell you who my dad was because I honestly didn't think it mattered—just like I'm sure you didn't tell me about..."

"My illegal activities?" He offered, a ghost of a smile tracing his lips for the first time since he'd arrived at her door.

"Yeah," she sent a faint smile back at him and thought that maybe, just maybe they'd be able to figure this out. "Look, Jax—I know my conversation with Officer Hale this morning was probably off to you but you have to understand...I've been questioned by cops about my dad since I was in grade school—I guess I've just been trained to play dumb, say I don't know anything—it's just pure reflex by now, a habit, I guess. So when Officer Hale showed up this morning...it wasn't anything that I wasn't used to."

"And you assumed I'd done something..." His voice was hesitant, like he wasn't really sure what to believe at this point and she couldn't really blame him.

"I don't know...you got a phone call and left in the middle of the night. Then a cop shows up telling me there was an explosion and wanted to know where you were all night. It wasn't difficult to put two and two together...I guess instinct just took over and I didn't want to do or say anything that would get you in trouble."

It took a moment for everything she said to sink in and he ran another hand roughly through his hair, tugging lightly on the front of his jeans, probably because he needed a cigarette.

"And this," he replied hoarsely, gesturing to the front of his cut. "This doesn't matter?"

She shrugged. "Should it?"

"I don't know...you tell me."

"Then I guess no—it doesn't. To be completely honest with you, what you do and what my dad does isn't all that different—except, well, you've gotten caught and he hasn't."

He cocked an eyebrow at her and exhaled deeply. "I'm not gonna lie, darlin', this is a little hard to believe."

"What—you're the one involved in 'illegal activity' yet somehow I'm the one that's untrustworthy because I don't really care? What the fuck, Jax—that's not fair."

"Why didn't you say something before? You could've told me too, you know—that you knew about Samcro and everything else."

She laughed bitterly and threw up a hand. "Oh right—like that would've gone over well. What was I supposed to do, just casually mention it?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

She didn't know what else to say. If he wasn't going to believe her now than odds were that he never would. She still just didn't understand why all of this mattered...she would be gone in less than two weeks, anyways, so all of this was a moot point. Besides, she wasn't ready to see him walk away from her yet.

Before she had a chance to speak, he pushed himself off the bed and began pacing around the space between the bed and the window. He blew out a deep breath and then ran a shaky hand over his face, then tugged it through his tangled hair before finally bringing his eyes up to meet hers.

"Let me get this straight," he began hoarsely. "You've known all this since day one-"

"Well," she interjected quickly. "Not day one—I had no idea when I pulled into TM."

"But when you came to the fundraiser—you knew then?"

She swallowed slowly and nodded. She could see him trying to work everything out—it flashed across his face at varying intervals—confusion, anger, hurt, frustration, relief...it was all there and then some.

"And what..." he started again, his eyes blazing with something she couldn't quite read. "You just didn't care?"

She shrugged. "It's not that I didn't—don't—care, Jax...I just...I don't know how to explain it to you."

He took a step closer and she felt the air leave her lungs at the sudden movement. "Try—please."

With a deep breath, she realized she was about to reveal something she hadn't planned on ever telling him. She forced her eyes to lock steadily on his and told herself she wouldn't look away. She was stronger than that and he needed to understand so she could figure out how to make sense of all this.

"My entire life, Jax," she started shakily. "I haven't really had a good track record with being able to rely on men for...just about anything. My dad...any ex-boyfriend, Will included...I've just always been dismissed as unimportant, always pushed a little further down the totem pole, you know?"

She paused to gauge his reaction and when she saw him swallow tightly, his eyes still on her, she figured that maybe some of what she was saying was finally sinking in.

"Anyways...when I came here, you were just...well, you were just exactly what I needed you to be. You didn't ask me any questions I wasn't ready to answer; you were just there. You helped me with everything I needed, you made sure I was safe, you were just there when I needed you, Jax—you just listened when I was finally ready to tell you but you never asked me to tell you anything. Part of why I told you everything was because I felt I needed to, that I owed you an explanation after everything..."

She paused again when her emotions got the best of her and when she opened her eyes again, he had finally moved to close the space between them. His hands were closing around her waist to pull her closer and she didn't hesitate to put a hand to his face just to reiterate her point.

"It doesn't matter, Jax, because I trust you—because you've done more for me than any other man has ever done, cared more than anyone has ever really cared and I—I just trust you, Jax. That's it."

His jaw clenched and he brushed some hair away from her face to tuck behind her ear. "Maybe you shouldn't."

She just shrugged. "Maybe not. But I do. I don't really need to know anything else."

He nodded, resting his forehead against hers. When he started to lower his mouth towards hers, she gently pushed against his chest to force him to look at her.

"Jax—why didn't you just ask me? I would've told you..."

He swallowed again and put his forehead against hers again. "I'm sorry, darlin'. I guess it was just my own instincts kickin' in...I'm not used to this—and I have no idea what to do with it."

She didn't know exactly what he meant—this new information or their entire relationship, if that's what it was. She wasn't an idiot—she was very aware that there had been a long line of girls before her and that there would be an equally long line after her. But the longer she stayed close to him like this, the more she realized that what she was feeling was more than just gratitude and more than just desire for the physical relationship with him. And that scared her. It was completely different than anything she'd ever encountered before and like Jax, she had no idea what to do with it.

So she decided to make light of the whole situation.

"What-" she forced a smile on her face as she spoke. "Most girls don't have the same reaction?"

He chuckled and bit his lip as he tilted back his head to get a better look at her. "Most girls are either too turned on by my patch to see anything else or they're too scared by it to come within fifty feet, even though they want to."

She rolled her eyes as he gripped her more tightly, forcing her to look at him.

"But I have to tell you, darlin'," he continued with cloudy eyes. "This whole I-don't-care-because-I-trust-you thing...that's not a line I've heard before."

"It's not a line."

"I know."

"I still don't appreciate you interrogating me."

He swallowed again and stepped closer until his hips pressed gently into hers. "I know. I'm sorry."

"You're gonna have to make it up to me."

His eyes shot up to hers and then that lop-sided grin slid onto her face and she was suddenly grateful he was holding onto her so tightly. She might've toppled over to the floor otherwise.

"Hmm..." he murmured against her neck, his hot breath brushing against her exposed skin. Then, without warning, he stopped himself and looked straight into her eyes. "You know, when I came here today, I thought this was going to be it—that you'd tell me to hit the road and never come back."

"I don't want you to do that, Jax. I want you to stay right here." As she spoke, her hands made their way up his neck and into his hair.

He leaned into her again and pressed his lips onto her neck, leading all the way up to her lips. He kissed her deeply and she eagerly opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to slid in. His hands snaked around her hips until they were under her shirt, pulling it up over her head in one swift motion. Feeling a little bold, she pushed a hand into his chest to force him back onto the bed until she was strattling him and pushed his cut off. A few seconds later, the rest of their clothes were strewn across the floor and he took her roughly by the hips to flip her around as he brought his mouth back down to hers.

In a flash, he rolled a condom on and he didn't even hesitate; he pushed himself into her and she cried out with relief that he wasn't going to torture her anymore. Then they were moving together, almost desperately, as their hips met in swift, needy motions. She tangled a hand in his hair and when she felt herself beginning to let go, on the brink of release, she tugged lightly, making him shudder against her, and when he let out that low grunt of ectasy, she felt herself finally completely let go, pulsing past the edge and moaned loudly in his ear.

As they came down, he pressed his forehead into hers and found her lips again, the kiss lingering for a few moments before he pushed himself to the other side of the bed. She curled up next to him and rested her head on his chest, listening to the furious beating of his heart, and smiled, knowing she'd had something to do with that. It didn't take long before her eyes fluttered shut and she was resting peacefully.

* * *

><p>Jax blew out a breath when he realized she was sleeping and moved a hand softly over her hair as she slept. He was almost grateful for this quiet moment with her now...he needed a second to figure out what the fuck was happening to him. He glanced down at the curve of her naked hip—that was now pressed against him—and he felt his body react almost immediately, in spite of the fact he'd spent himself only a few minutes before. Shit...just one look and he was already going crazy. He was getting in too deep too quickly—and he didn't know how to stop it. Or if he even wanted to stop it in the first place. This wasn't a predicament he was used to being in...ever.<p>

She stirred in his arms and he reflexively tightened his hold on her. It just felt so fucking good to feel her in his arms. He realized, feeling a heavy sigh, that it probably wouldn't even matter if she was clothed or not—it would feel good regardless. He was starting to feel like a pussy.

But he'd also never been with a girl who'd told him point blank that she trusted him. Or that his involvement with Samcro was more of a non-issue than anything else. Like he'd told her, he just didn't know what to do with this information. He hadn't been exaggerating before—most girls didn't see anything other than his cut. It was either the thing that thrust them into his bed or sent them running, even if they kept looking behind them as they ran. If he was being completely honest with himself, he'd secretly hoped that Wendy would've been able to see more than that...to look beyond the cut and the club...maybe he could've found a way to love her back. He shook his head at that thought...she was too fucked up—still was—for it to have ever really worked out between them.

When he came to her hotel room, he'd anticipated questions about what he really did for a living and was prepared to answer her, even if it was only in half-truths. He was not, however, prepared to learn that she'd already learned the truth on her own. Fucking Wikipedia. He really couldn't blame her for not mentioning it before—if this shit with the warehouse had never happened, it probably wouldn't have ever come up. But she said it didn't matter and her rationale made surprising sense. Everything she said made sense—it was just difficult to swallow. Maybe he just didn't know how to swallow it.

He wasn't used to being _that _guy—the guy that could be counted on, relied on, depended on and whatever else. He had never really wanted to be any of those things before. Even with Wendy, it hadn't been about that, despite her pushing and pulling. But the second he'd laid eyes on Lily and seen the now barely visible bruise on her face, everything he knew about women and how to deal with them had turned to complete shit. When she told him all the reasons why she trusted him, he believed her. It wasn't believing her that was the problem; it was reconciling the implication of believing her and the feelings it stirred up in him that was the problem.

He sighed again and pulled her closer to him. It really didn't matter what he was feeling or why. In a little over a week, she was going to pack up and leave Charming. That was how this was going to end. He wouldn't be doing himself any favors by pondering too long on his feelings for the girl currently sleeping in his arms. Besides, as soon as she left, he would be free to nail all the pussy he wanted. And he didn't allow himself to dwell on that fact that he'd basically admitted to himself that he didn't want to be with any other girl while Lily was still in town.

Maybe his best course of action was to just ride this out. Let it run its course. Have fun with her. Fuck her until she lost all sense of feeling in her body. She'd only been in town four days now—officially—and he'd already had her twice; there was plenty of time for more. He would not sit around and wonder what was going to happen when she inevitably left him. And he would not sit around and wonder if she would even remember him.

He felt her stir again and glanced down to find her tired eyes staring right up at him.

"Hey." She whispered with a soft smile and he felt his heart clench tightly in his chest.

"Hey." He lowered his mouth to her forehead and kissed it twice.

"How long was I out for?"

"Not too long—hey, listen, I should probably get goin'...got some shit to take care of and Clay'll have my ass if I don't show up soon."

She nodded slowly and he wondered briefly if maybe he was leaving too quickly. Should he stick around a little longer? What the fuck was he doing? At that thought, he immediately untangled himself and pushed off the bed as he started groping for his clothes. She remained silent as he threw his clothes on and reached down for his shoes. He didn't know if it was her silence or the solemn, wide look in her eyes but he was speaking before he could stop himself.

"There's a party at the clubhouse tonight—it's gonna be rowdy and, I'm not gonna lie, you'll probably see some things you don't wanna see, but you could stop by if you want."

"The clubhouse—that's on TM's lot, right?"

"Yeah."

He blew out a breath and realized he couldn't take it back now. She wasn't the type of girl that belonged at a Samcro party and he knew that she would have absolutely no idea what she was walking into if she decided to come. But the sick, masochistic part of him wanted to see if she could handle it, if she wouldn't take one look and run back out the door. Maybe some other part of him wanted to call her bluff on being so cool with his role as VP of Samcro. Maybe if she saw what really went on, what being associated with the club was really like and all the 'perks' that came along with it, she'd bail and put him out of his misery earlier than planned. He knew this could easily be interpreted as an asshole move if her reaction was more of the latter. But he was past the point of caring.

And as he headed back out to his bike, he realized that asking her in the first place was probably a bad move. He knew he was potentially setting both of them up for failure-there were only a couple of ways this night could end and he didn't see many scenarios that ended with her naked in his dorm. Still, that was a risk he was willing to take because this girl had gotten under his skin and he needed to do something quick to get her the fuck out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN-**Things got a little too real too quick, right? It's gonna take both of them awhile to figure out what's really going on between them. Next up is the party at the clubhouse and I hope no one thinks Jax is being too much of a jerk right now (even if it's just in his thoughts)-he isn't really equipped to handle real 'feelings' so his knee-jerk reaction is to assume she won't be able to handle it. He doesn't really understand yet because she's so different than anyone he's ever been with.

Anyways-I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was very drama-filled but it's definitely going to move their relationship along since they had the first in a series of big conversations that they need to have. Let me know what you think-please r/r!


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